The Afterglow
by NarwhalQueen
Summary: X'antia is one of the best weapon technicians in the galaxy. Working under Yondu Udonta she sold her wares on the black market for a high price. Bought out of slavery as a teenager X'antia is in debt to her captain. As the years go on Yondu begins to worry he is getting soft, when his technician is ripped from his side, how will the Captain cope? [ Yondu x OC yonduxOC ]
1. Chapter 1: Meetings

**Warning: This fiction is totally fan made and I own no canon characters I just own X'antia. This fic is also for those 16+ as it shall include upsetting topics such as abuse, slavery, child prostitution, cursing and lemons. So if you can't handle it turn back now….no really – if you have read any of my other fics you will know….I write dark things…XD**

 **If you like this chapter and would like to see more, just leave me a comment letting me know what you want!**

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 **Afterglow**

 **Chapter One**

Yondu Udonta slumped down into the main chair in his quarters with a huff, stretching out his arms and resting them on the leather arm rests. He was not looking forward to this. The gruff captain let out a grumble of complaint as he took a glance over at the yellow haired alien setting out a tray of tools, none of which looked particularly appealing and from previous experience the Ravenger captain knew exactly what was coming.

The young yellow haired alien chuckled to herself as she set out the collection of tools on the table beside Yondu, noting the scowl that crossed her captain's face made her chuckle even more. In truth she respected her captain however, it was fun to poke fun at him every once in a while. She knew the risks but Quill and she had been getting away with it for a while now and she knew that she was too much of an asset to killing off just yet.

"Girl, you gunna get on with it or not?!" Yondu snapped as he fidgeted slightly in his chair, kicking his feet up onto the table with a thud. The yellow haired alien sighed and moved behind her captain and took a look at the red fin. It was time for an upgrade. Not the most enjoyable time for the Centaurian, his bi o engineered fin was a blessing and a curse in that sense. The prosthetic was in good shape, however it needed updating and X'antia has just finished working on her new improved prototype.

X'antia had been working for Yondu for the last decade, ever since he bought her from a slave driver on Tolkar, remaining loyal to the Ravengers over the years the girl's engineering abilities had gained her a reputation and a permanent standing in the crew. Of course adjusting to the life on the ship was tough for a fifteen year old at first but after ten years X'antia was well adapted to the Ravenger lifestyle and with the addition of the new Terran kid – she was thankful she was no longer the crew's youngest member.

"Stay the fuck still Captain!" X'antia snapped as she grabbed hold of the back of Yondu's head making him growl. He was not a fan of being manhandled especially by a woman – if he wanted that kind of treatment he would pay for it.

"Woman, don't be giving me lip! Ya here?" The Centaurian barked back at the yellow haired alien crossing his arms in protest.

"Then stay the hell still before I jab the wrong part!" X'antia snapped back as she picked up one of her sharp looking tools and began her work.

"Don't you be fucking up my head now girl or I will kill ya!" Yondu snapped back as he scowled as the alien worked on his fin.

"Yeah… not if I fuck up this enhancement." X'antia commented dryly as she began to disconnect wires and remove chips from her captains prosthetic attachment, placing them down on the table next to her.

"Then don't fuck it up girl!" Yondu shouted back as he picked up a piece of the machinery layed out in front of him, looking it over in his hands.

"Then stop bloody moving you great fidgeting smurf!" X'antia snapped as she lightly slapped her captain's hand making him put down the metallic attachments and turn his head to glare at her.

"What's that now? What's a damn smurf?" Yondu asked confused, making note of the smirk on his engineer's face. "Nothing Captain." She replied quickly as she collected one of the new chips from the table and lifted it up to the light to examine it before motioning for her captain to turn around.

"Girl, you better tell me what a smorf is!" Yondu snapped as his engineer continued fixing in the new attachment chip into his head. "It's Smurf and it's something Quill told me about. It's a Terran thing." X'antia explain brushing off the threatening tone in her captains voice as she continued to attach the new chips and wires into Yondu's fin.

The Ravenger captain sat seething as the yellow haired alien continued to attach new parts to his head. It didn't hurt him as much as it irritated him, he wasn't a fan of people touching his fin, the area around it was sensitive and X'antia kept touching it making him shuffle in his chair. X'antia noticed this, she tried to avoid the sensitive areas as much as she could, the scarring from initial implantation was obviously sensitive and she knew whenever she updated the enhancement the scarring got agitated.

As she continued her work the young alien began to think back to the first time she met Yondu and his crew. She would never have expected such an offer as a young girl but she was not unhappy with her current situation.

 **Tol-kar (10 Years Previous)**

 **X'antia POV**

Tol-kar was an infamous city on Fazin, a planet in the outer quadrant, renowned for its less than honourable dealings and residents – if you were looking for the worst of the worst, or the darkest of dealings Tol-kar was the place for to head to. The barren iron planet radiating an electronic core powered the small iron shacks which made up the core buildings of the city. The large menacing fortress which stood proudly in the middle of the main city was the home of Zoldar – my Master. Renowned in the black market and an infamous slave trader, that is how I ended up in his company.

I don't quite remember how old I was when I arrived on Tol-kar; I know I was young – just an infant at the time. I was a scrawny little thing, mostly skin and bone at that time. Slavers were not the most generous with portion sizes when giving us our food. I only remember little snippets of my arrival to the fortress, I remember the icy bath I was thrown into and how the other women scrubbed from head to toe burning my skin in the process ; I remembered how they branded me with the Zoldar's emblem on my spine. I remember how the tag they placed on me like I was livestock- a golden hoop on my left ear. My ears have always been sensitive, as a Valkurian our race were known for our sensitive pointed ears and our bright neon hair colours.

My people were a peaceful race, until Thanos' army destroyed our planet and children like I were sold into the slave trade. I remember seeing another Valkurian child when we were being separated for delivery – I often wondered how that boy turned out.

I had been in the service of my Master for ten years; I wasn't dead yet so I couldn't really complain compared to the fate of some of the other girls. Lashings and beatings were a gift. I had been released from the fortress under orders to collect items from one of the local dealers. It was a common occurrence – they'd send out the younger girls to do the runs. If we were killed it was less of a loss compared to the more trained older women.

As I made my way back from the city to the fortress I could hear some commotion coming from the direction I was heading to. A group of leather clan males stood in front of the fortress gate – they were shooting at the doorway. I shook my head and hid behind a large rock as I watched them attempt to break though the electro fortress.

Scooting through a small gap behind the rocks I slid into the small crevice of the mountain beside me, walking through the small pathway I tried to stay out of sight as I watched the events unfold from a small gap in the rocks. After about ten minutes of watching the pack try to open the door I realized I was late and desperately tried to figure out how to get back to my Master before I received a beating – but at the same time I didn't want to draw any attention to myself.

"Maybe he can't hear us knocking….bring out the big guns." Ordered the blue man, he was intimidating looking – a tall, well-built man; he couldn't have been much older than his early thirties. I made a note of the scars across his face, a mark of the slave trade of old. Each slaver has their own symbol, the scars on his face was enough to tell me that little snippet of information about him.

"Captain says bring out the big guns!" Another member of the gang bellowed as the rest of the crew cheered as they began to set up a very large energy canon. I winced at the large machine, I knew this was a really bad idea – the ammo which was used with these particular weapons react very badly with the energy force field, they could not penetrate it but they could easily wipe themselves out.

"That is a really bad idea…" I exclaimed as I looked over the gun, my hands coming up to cover my mouth in horror as I prayed silently that I had not been heard.

"Who said that?!" The blue man barked as a small group of his men headed towards the crack in the rocks. I cursed myself as I tried to shuffle myself back into the darker part of the cavern – not much good to be had as I felt two large gloved hands grab hold of my shoulders and pick me up carrying me out to the group of men.

"Captain, we found this girl hidden in that there mountain path." One of the ugly men began, I was not prejudice against other races – but this fucker was ugly as hell, scales across his face, webbed tongue and he smelt…to be honest they all smelled horrible.

I looked to the floor as I felt myself being dangled in the air, one of the leather clad men held my up by the scruff of my collar.

"You not talking now girly?" The obvious leader of the group chuckled as he stood in front of me. I knew after my years in captivity it was probably a bad idea to look a man in the eye. I flitched as a sharp whistling sound pierced the air and an arrow came shooting towards my face faltering slightly in front of me, I crooked my neck slightly as I watched the arrow shake slightly in front of me as the red fin on the scary looking blue man flashed red and flickered. No one else seemed to have clicked on to the fact that the arrow shouldn't have faltered in such a way – but it was obvious in the tensing of the blue aliens jaw.

"Speak girl." The blue alien snapped as the arrow remained in front of me. I bit the inside of my mouth and sighed. "The main gate is made up of reinforced energy shields." I began before I was cut off by one of the other men.

"So? What does that matter? We can blast through it!" He growled as he received a cheer from the crew. I shook my head a little at the thought. Did these people not know anything about machinery? Where was their mechanics? Their engineers?

"If you fire that gun at that gate, the energy field will just obliterate everything from here to half way into the city. The ammo which is used for this gun reacts very badly to the energy radiating around the gate. Unless you all want to die in a very nasty way I wouldn't shoot that door." I snapped before looking back at my dangling feet, forgetting myself for a moment.

The blue alien cocked a smirk and raised a brow as I went back to looking at the floor; preparing for a slap or at least, some kind of penance for speaking so confidently.

"You think the kid could get us in?" One of the crew spoke up earning a nod from a number of the members. "Yeah, she be knowin' all kind about this barrier." Another spoke up, I winced a little knowing full well where they were heading with their ideas…and I could get them in – but it would also cost me a beating of a lifetime.

"Hey girly! You tellin' me you know how to get past this damn wall 'ere?" The blue alien began and he circled me. Even as I was raised up off the ground he was still at my eye line. "You need a pass chip." I sighed as I accepted my fate – to be honest I would rather be beaten by the guards than have worse happen to me by these brutes.

"You have a chip girly?"

I looked at the floor, my hands still around the front of my collar trying to keep gravity from strangling myself to death. "Now, now girly…don't be playing with us." The blue haired man chuckled as he walked up to me. "I can't give you no chip Mr." I began as I was hoisted higher into the air by the two men.

"…But I can get you in to see my Master. If you put me down…" I exclaimed as I tried to wiggle free from their grasp, gasping for air. There was a silence before another piercing whistle rung though the air and the arrow returned to the blue aliens hands.

Nodding with a smirk the blue man placed the arrow back into its holster and nodded over to the two brutes holding me up.

"Drop 'er."

Landing on the floor with a crash I winced as I tried to collect the items which had been scattered across the ground, rushing to put them back into the small bag. I stood up slowly and got my bearings before I turned to walk towards the main gate. This was such a mistake….

"Follow me please."

"Girl! Are you listening to me?!" Yondu snapped from his chair, snapping X'andia from her daydream. "You need to show me some respect woman!" Yondu snapped as X'antia focused her attention back on her task at hand. She had managed to fix the majority of the captain's headpiece without much need for complete focus. "I rescued you from that slave trader and you repay me with lip!" He exclaimed shooting his hands into the air dramatically earning him a scoff from his engineer.

"That was over ten years ago Captain! Must you keep bringing it up?" X'antia chuckled as she continued her work on his fin. "You would still be rotting away on that blasted planet if it wasn't for me!" Yondu growled at his engineer who nodded sarcastically behind his head. "Yes, I would be a slave and Quill would've been eaten. You saved us, what a big hero you are Captain!" X'antia exclaimed as she straightened Yondu's head forward earning a grunt in response.

"Now stop moving!" X'antia snapped and continued working.

 **Yondu POV**

I should have left her on Tol-kar, I should have bloody left her on that iron planet with that mad man. Why do I bring people onto my damn ship that cause nothing but problems for me?"Ungrateful bitch." I grumbled as I picked up and admired some of my collectables on my desk. Everything went quiet for a moment behind me. Ah fuck – I knew exactly what was coming.

"I am ungrateful?! You fix your own damn enhancements then!" There it was! I ducked slightly as a screwdriver flew past my head landing on my bookcase knocking off some maps and a galaxy atlas.

 **That was it.**

Pushing myself up off the chair I turned around to the yellow haired woman and grabbed her wrist tightly earning a scowl in return. "Remind me again why I keep your ass on this ship?" I hissed as X'antia struggled out of my grip before groaning and relaxing a little.

"Because I am the best damn weapons tech in the quadrant and my weapons sales make you rich." She chuckled with a smirk. Narrowing my eyes at the smaller woman I shook my head and noted her point –she was a monumental pain in the ass. All of the time-day and night – but she was good and she did bring in a nice profit with her weapons sales…

"Touché." I chuckled as I turned around and sat back down in my chair letting the alien continue her work on my fin. I winced a little as she worked a little rougher on me this time around – her own way of getting her own back for my outburst I was sure.

She was a lot more confident than she was when I first met her as a skinny little teenager. If you lined the two up next to each other you wouldn't notice them as the same person bar the bright yellow dreadlocks and the technical babble. Closing my eyes for a while I figured I wasn't going anywhere until she was finished her work so may as well rest up.

 **Tol-Kar - 10 years prior**

 **Yondu POV**

Payment wasn't difficult to come by in the end. A little bit of negotiation was all that was needed before the slaver paid up. We had been settled on Tol-Kar for the last few days, refuelling and enjoying the local 'entertainment'.

Lounging back to observe the dancers around us I nodded as I took a sip of my beer. It was looking like my boys were having an enjoyable evening – I had overindulged over the last few days and decided to let my boys have their turns whilst I nursed a drink and enjoyed the view.

"Your headpiece needs repairing, you're signalling to your Haka arrow is off." A familiar voice sounded from behind me, crooking my neck to see where the comment came from I frowned slightly at the sight before me.

It was the skinny runt of a girl from the other day. The one who had let us into the fortress; I turned my nose up at her outfit. In place of her slave robes from the previous encounter the young girl was dressed in the same outfits as the other working girls in the bar – it was obvious to me she was far too young to be a working girl. I had seen my fair share and I knew what I was looking at.

"What the hell are you wearing girl? How old are you girl?" I snapped at the yellow haired girl making her look down sadly for a moment before shaking her shoulders and looking me in the eye.

"Old enough." She purred stepping closer to me running her hand over my shoulder, making me gag a little on the inside. Shaking my head I pushed the intended image from my mind. "Nope, sorry girly I don't play that way." I exclaimed as I stood up from the chair.

"You're a Ravenger – you don't have morals." The yellow haired alien snapped back at me crossing her arms. "Besides, I am old enough!" I laughed too loudly at her comment making her wince a little lowering her head.

"I doubt that – she- she looks old enough." I commented dryly pointing at one of the older working girls who was busy grinds down on one of my crew. Turning back to the young girl who now stood very awkwardly in front of me I pointed her up and down making her scowl and cover herself a little "You, you look like you've barely hit puberty!" I chuckled.

"None of my Master's associates have a problem with it." The alien snapped as she covered herself. "Your Master has shit heads for associates." I hissed at the thought – I was a shithead, I was a bad person but damn it, I wouldn't be planning on fucking no little girl. That is some other worldly shit that I don't deal in. "That shit heads got you whorin' at this age? What is it? Sixteen? Seventeen?"

"Fourteen…fifteen in a couple of months…." The young alien commented quietly looking down making sure the other punters didn't hear her. She was looking around a little too nervously at the guards in the room.

"Yea, that doesn't not make it any better." I sighed as I scratched the back of my head. "I am sure you have had worse than me." She purred as she tried to run her hands over me again; poor kid wasn't getting the picture. "I said NO girly!" I shouted without realizing it making the girl whimper and step back preparing for some kind of impact that never came.

As the girl had her back to me I looked over her back, I could see the scars on her back from the lashings, her branding burn on the top of her spine. A tree with barbed wired branches was burned into the base of her neck. I also noted the fresh bruising on her sides; I knew those marking too well. I had enough of my own covered up.

"You fell down the stairs?" I commented dryly as the girl slowly looked back round at me. She stayed quiet at the comment but she knew what I was talking about. "You do that a lot?" I asked crossing my arms as the yellow haired alien nodded.

"…Yeah I used to fall down stairs a lot too." I sighed as she nodded, clearly noting the scar on my face. With a groan I slid off my jacket and tossed it to the girl who caught it clumsily and struggling under the weight of the leather.

"Put that on would you. I can't talk to a child dressed like that. It's disgusting." I ordered as she sighed and pulled on my leather coat, the material swamping her and hitting the floor. Her skinny arms not reaching the end of the coat sleeves. I chuckled at the young girl who was struggling under the weight of my coat.

"Stay there girly." I ordered as I made my way over to one of the men guarding the private rooms.

"Hello there ma' friend. How much you be charging for an hour wi' that one?" I asked as I pointed over to the yellow haired alien who stood in the corner of the room in my coat. She was looking around nervously trying to not stand out in the room.

"That one? Nice choice she is 150 units an hour and then 50 units any half hour after." The guard chuckled smugly; I could see in his eyes that he knew far too well what was hidden under my jacket.

"Sold." I commented dryly as I transferred the money into the brothels account before signalling for the young alien to come over.

The room was nice, I had spent enough time in it over the last few days. Escorting the young girl into the room I went over to the one of the monitors on the wall and logged in my order for a drink. One alcoholic and one non-alcoholic one making the young girl chuckle, I shook my head as I picked up the drinks and turned to walk back over to the sofa area.

Stopping in my tracks I let out a disgusted shout and closed my eyes. "No, no no! Put the damn coat back on girl! Yeesh!" I said as I placed the drinks down and scratched my head. The alien let out a growl and pulled my coat back onto her and stomped over to the sofa and sat down.

"I told you I don't fuck kids!" I exclaimed as I looked down at her. "Then what are you buying?" She exclaimed, clearly confused about the entire transaction. "Privacy girl, privacy." I chuckled as I sat down in the opposing chair and looked over at the young girl. She sat slumped over holding her legs and resting her chin on her knees.

Whistling sharply I sent my arrow flying towards the young girl making her scream and lean back as the arrow stopped in front of her. "You said my signalling to my arrow was off." I commented with a chuckle, lowering the arrow slightly receiving a glare from the teenager.

"How do you know?" I asked as I watched the girl look over the arrow with a new confidence. "The receptor in your prosthetic is having signalling problems; you probably have a blown fuse in your fin, when you summon your arrow your fin falters flashing." She commented, her posture changing as she took hold of the arrow and looked it over.

"And you know this how?"

"I have a few more talents to hand than just spreading my legs." The alien commented as she handed me back my arrow, holstering it on my waist I crossed my arms. "Some of the older slaves taught me to read. All my master has are mechanical books and when he is asleep I tinker around with his spare weapons…as a dealer he has a lot of them." She sighed and removed the high heeled shoes which were obviously hurting her feet.

"Can you fix this?" I asked as I tapped my fin, earning a chuckle and a nod from the young girl. "Course I can." She smirked confidently. "Can you fix anything else?" I asked, impressed at the kids new confidence. "If I have the tools I can fix anything."

I nodded intrigued at the imagined talent of the slave girl. Pulling out my radar I barked down the phone to one of my men and told them to bring me in a tool kit from the ship. "How long you been working for that master o'yours?" I asked as I took a gulp of my drink.

"Far too long." She said darkly as she looked up from her drink. I nodded slowly and took a sip of my drink, both of us sitting in silence for a few moments. I thought it over; I remembered how I felt when I was in her position – not a child prostitute – but having been sold into slavery as a kid fucks you up in the head. I know what the shit does to you – how it rots your self-worth, your soul if fucked up. I was lucky I was bought over a decade ago, regardless I spent the first twenty years of my life in a cage. That is no fucking life.

I ain't soft, I ain't no nice man but I ain't no monster to leave a little girl in this state. If she is good as she says she is with fixing shit, I may find a use for her yet.

"Fancy a change?"

As the silence broke the yellow haired alien looked up, her short yellow hair getting pushed out of her face as she did.

"Every damn day." She swallowed hard as she looked back down again; anger now apparent in her yellow slit eyes. I nodded finishing my drink and placing it back on the table before collecting another one and returning to my seat.

"Well girly - you fix this up for me and you got yourself a new job." I smirked as I watched the alien look up in shock, wide eyes she broke into a wide grin and stood up cracking her fingers and neck before moving over to the toolbox.

"Shall we begin?"

"Captain wake the hell up!" X'antia exclaimed as she slammed her toolbox shut next to me, jolting me away from my dream. I must have fallen asleep whilst she was working on me. "Damn it girl do you have to do that?!" I barked as I stood up from my chair and moved over the mirror in my room to take a look at the enhanced headpiece. Nothing much had changed physically so that was good for me.

"Once enhanced biogenetic headpiece." X'antia exclaimed theatrically as she pulled off her gloves and apron.

"Thank you X'antia!" She said gruffly trying to copy my accent, failing miserably. "You are welcome Captain, a pleasure as always." She responded to herself in her usual voice, rolling my eyes I shook my head and stretched my back, sleeping in that chair had fucked around with my back.

"You are such a wonderful woman. I am so glad you are part of my crew." She sung to herself as she picked up her toolbox and made her way to the door. She was taking it too far, I was the captain of this 'ere ship and I wasn't taking kindly to people disrespecting me.

A sharp whistle pierced the air and I heard a small gasp as my arrow poked the end of the Valkurians nose, making her tut and glare at me. "Oh Captain, normally I ask men to buy me a drink or at least pay me before they begin pointing their sticks in my face." She chuckled as she stepped back away from the arrow.

"I should have left you with that damn Master o'yours!" I snapped angrily as I summoned back my arrow turning around and sitting back in my chair, leaning back and letting out a groan.

She may not be the same fourteen year old kid I picked up on Tol-Kar, she was grown now but damn it she was more than twice as much of a handful. If I had known this when I bought her from her previous Master I probably would have passed on the opportunity.

"Given the chance again you would have." X'antia chuckled as she left the room. I watched her reflection in the window as she left, cracking my neck to the side I sighed in defeat. "No I would'nt've girly."

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There we go! Chapter one. I have taken a break from writing whilst I was in university and now I am off for the summer so I am hoping to get back into updating my other fics as well as keeping on with this one if you all want it to carry on. ^_^

Let me know!


	2. Chapter 2: The Drop Off

**Hi!**

 _Thank you all so much for the lovely comments and following over the last week. I have been in and out of hospital so I have been chipping away at this chapter this week. I hope to have at least 2 chapters up per week. We shall hope that happens!_

 _This chapter will feature a snippet of a song and that song is: I only wanna be with you - Bay City Rollers if you want to listen to it in full it is on YT or any other music provider_

 _As GOTG does play heavily into music and themes from music I would like to add in some music to the chapters and the story. Let me know if you are interested in that at all_

 _This chapter is a little bit fluffy but I promise the next chapter will be more nitty gritty._

 _Thanks everyone who is reading and enjoying this story! I love you all!_

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 **Chapter Two: The Drop off**

Soldat was the next destination for the Ravenger team. X'antia and six of the other crew members had been dispatched to the wasteland to carry out a deal in the no man lands. This was neutral territory – ideal for the sale of weaponry and the suchlike. X'antia always carried out the weapons deals, Yondu would secure the deals as Captain and then X'antia as head engineer and a small team of the mercenaries would make the trade-off. On most occasions, the deals would go through smoothly – however when they did not…it was easy to assume that the unfortunate second party did not live to see their side of the bargain fulfilled.

Soldat was a barren desert wasteland comprised mostly of steep sandy hills and the more than regular sand storm which left the faces of the crew sore and raw from the friction. A number of the group that had been blessed with common sense had their bodies covered with layers of clothing and rags, covering their faces and any skin which could be on show and open to the elements. Others were not so smart, never the less the team always collected their money regardless of the situation.

On most occasions, the deals would go through smoothly – however when they did not…it was easy to assume that the unfortunate second party did not live to see their side of the bargain fulfilled.

 **Collect the money at all costs.**

That was the aim of the game. X'antia knew this as much as the rest of the team. She had been making these trades for over a decade – as a child she was more nervous about the transactions; happy to be kept in her room on the ship making the weapons. The yellow haired alien was not a fan of the violence at first – she got used to it quickly.

During one less than pleasant transaction, a punter left the young alien with a nice scar to remember him by. A deep scar edged into the otherwise soft skin of the Valkurian; the then teenager had once made a joke of how she would lose all her punters thanks to her new scar ruining her nice skin.

It was too hot on this planet, the team groaned in unison as they each made their way up the sandy peak pushing and pulling the three large wooden boxes back to the ship. Ideally they thought they would leave the weapons with the trader and made their way back up to the ship with little to no effort. However, plans did not necessarily go as previously thought.

The punter asking to buy X'antia off of the crew did not bode well with the Valkurian and her team, amongst the entire Ravenger crew X'antia did have some allies – a few but they were still there in situations like this. The Ravenger team had locked horns with the trader and his team leading a nice brawl which left the Ravengers with a nice amount of money and a collection of weapons to haul back to the ship.

"Almost there boys!" X'antia panted heavily as she struggled to pull one of the boxes back up the sandy peak. "Just a few more meters to go…" She puffed looking up at their small ship which sat proudly at the top of the peak. All they needed to do was get to the top of the hill and load the weapons up and return to the mother ship. Not that much trouble.

"You do realize Cap'tn is gunna kill us?" Grunted of the company who carried one of the large boxes on his shoulders, the aliens large hulking form allowing him to walk up the hill almost nonchalantly next to his companions.

"Yeah you wasn't supposed to be killin' the trader X'antia – that weren't orders." Groaned another member of the company; X'antia chuckled as she watched the green alien use his two spare arms to propel his box up the hill at a steady pace.

"Oh, we got the money that's all Capt'n cares about – he will be fine!" She chuckled between grunts as she continued to pull making her face go a darker purple than her usual milk lavender.

"You can explain it to 'im then." The bigger alien chuckled as he watched his teammate struggle until she was purple in the face.

"Fine, you bunch of pussies!" X'antia snapped as she pulled her box onto the top of the hill, falling down onto the sandy ground with an exasperated gasp as she looked up at the sky.

"We will just leave you to pack up Tia." One of the aliens chuckled as he sat down on the edge of the loading bay pulling off the layers that concealed his chiselled physique.

"I hate you all." X'antia breathed heavily as she closed her eyes and stretched her tired muscles earning a howl of laughter from her team as they took hold her the boxes and began to load them onto the ship.

"I really need to make lighter weapons…" She commented dryly to herself as she sat up slowly and pushed herself off the floor and went to help her team load the cargo. "Or you could try not killin' the buyers?" An alien commented with a chuckle.

"Yeah, maybe that too."

 **X'antia POV**

Living on board the Ravenger main ship had its perks; it was a huge vessel with multiple rooms and areas which were always fun to explore. The benefit of being the only female crew member meant that I was able to turn my laboratory into a make do bedroom.

The other crew members had large mixed sleeping quarters; really it was only Yondu and a few of the higher ranking members of the crew that had their own rooms. The others made do with hammocks and bunk beds in the bigger rooms – I for one was glad that I never needed to mix in those quarters. I could deal with manly smells as good as anyone but having over sixty Ravengers sleeping in one room….that was all too much for my senses.

My 'room' was my safe space – on a ship full of rowdy men a lady needs one. I had managed to get the Captain to agree to let me convert some of my engineering lab into a bedroom. I had managed to install a pull down bed on the wall and had some thick fabric curtains which separated off my sleeping area from the working area. Not that the curtain was drawn at any point – I was always tinkering around with my toys in bed. Much to the annoyance of some of the other engineers, they couldn't understand how I could sit in bed and focus on work at the same time but it was comfortable and productive for me none the less.

As I sat on my bed tinkering away at one of my new weapons I felt my ears give a twitch, listening closer I could make out the sound of footsteps, light ones belonging to the little Terran boy walking down the hall to my laboratory.

"Hey little Terran. What's up?" I mused out loud as the footsteps stopped.

I looked up from my work to see the thirteen year old Peter Quill sulking in the doorway. His face was red and blotchy, I could tell he had been crying – he was never one to admit to crying, not aboard the ship but I had known the child since he was picked up five years ago. He had been crying, my guess was that the other crew members had been messing with him again. I sighed, looking over at the kid, I knew bullying built character and it was known that Ravengers needed thick skin but I still felt for the poor boy.

"They did it again…" Quill sniffed angrily as he gently pulled out a smashed up music player from his pocket. "Your music box?" I sighed as I stood up from my bed and made my way over to the kid who held out his cassette player for me to take.

"Damn it." I groaned as I examined the smashed up piece of machinery. Terran technology was basic at the best of times – I had offered to remake a better music player for the child but he would hear none of it. He had a strange attachment to the music player; his late mother having given it to him was my understanding of the situation. I never knew my parents so I had no such connections to another person but I could sympathize with the child who had moved over to sit in my chair by my work table.

"You can fix it can't you Tia?" The Terran boy asked with a deep breath as I looked the device over. I had repaired the cassette player a number of times before, I thought I had made it clear to the vandals that if they fucked with the music box giving me anymore hassle I would hurt them…badly.

Placing the cassette player on the worktop I nodded smiling over to Peter as I pulled out a few tools and spare parts that I would need and lined them up on the table.

"Thank you Tia…" Peter sighed, relieved that I was there to help him keep the last few traces of his mother alive.

I shooed the preteen off of my chair and began work on the small device; undoing the small broken pieces and placing them down on the side before I examined the extent of the damage.

"What does this do?"

The Terran asked as he looked around my workshop, I cast my eyes over at the teenager who had picked up one of the weapons I had been working on.

"Put it down kid." I chuckled. "That gun generates a blue flame which can scorch to the bone in ten seconds." I could feel the smile spreading across my face as the little Terran slowly placed the gun back down where it came from and backed up.

"What about this one?" He asked as he rushed over to one of the other boxes I had stored near my bed. "That is an energy dagger. Be careful with that one you could lose an arm or a leg with that!"

I laughed to myself as the boy turned to me with an open mouth. "This is one of my favourite little weapons." I said as I made my way over to Peter and took the weapon from his hand.

I examined the weapon, all it was to the naked eye was the black hilt of the dagger and I pressed a small button on its side and a glowing translucent white flame shot out from the hilt of the dagger.

"Woah! It's a lightsaber!" The teenager exclaimed in delight, I had no idea what a 'lightsaber' was referring to, tiling my head to the side I tried to image what possible reference this child was making about my weapons. I hoped it was not some kind of Terran insult…

"A what?" I asked as I cut off the power to the dagger returning it to the box making sure it was out of reach of the teenager.

"You know? Star-Wars! The Jedi – the lightsabers?" I blinked at the child in confused, I knew there were many wars in the Galaxy. My home planet had been invaded during one of the old wars. I did not see however, the relevance or link to my creations…

"Can you make me something? I am the only one on this ship without a weapon…" The teenager sighed as he sat on the end of my bed. I sighed and made my way over to my work chair and continued working on the cassette.

"Hasn't the Captain taught you to shoot yet?" I asked as I tinkered away at the device. I thought that it was common for the new recruits to be drilled in weaponry when they were taken aboard the ship.

"I have been shown a little about the weapons; all I am really good for is –"

"Getting into small spaces?" I finished with a chuckle, noting the excuse which was used nearly every other day. The only reason the Captain never delivered the kid to his father was because he fit into small areas to turn on and off switches and Terran children were notoriously quiet and hard to track even with my enhanced hearing.

"Yeah." He sighed sadly as he looked at some of my blueprint sheets lined out on my walls. I felt bad for the kid, I had to admit – I was lonely when I was brought onto this ship but it was nicer than the life I had before…I knew nothing of the life of the teenage boy. I suspected by the state the child was in when he was picked up that his life was better on Terra.

"I will make something up for you but something that will suit your size." I sighed at my own softness; I knew I would get a wrist slap from Captain about this. I should really run the idea with him first….but there is no fun in that.

"Something cool?" Peter asked jumping up from my bed and rushing over next to me making me chuckle at this enthusiasms. I couldn't fault the Terran for that.

"Yes, something very cool. Now run along, I need to get some work done; I should have this fixed by tomorrow." I chuckled as I shooed the boy off out of my workshop.

 **3POV**

The canteen area was busy was usual, the Ravengers who were stationed aboard all sat in their groups eating their meals, with less than hospitable manners. It was something the Valkurian had become accustomed to over the last decade, it disgusted her at first but now it did not make her look twice. Between the belching, farting and general rowdiness the company wasn't bad per say – just cultured in a different way.

X'antia sat at her usual spot next to her fellow engineering buddies, as the conversation and banter flowed across the table the neon haired alien caught site of one particular crewmate – one she knew all too well was to blame for the extra workload tossed at her today.

"Did you see the tits on that Kree girl?!" The scaled aquatic alien bellowed, his voice echoing through the main canteen making the yellow haired alien grit her teeth as she slowly stood up and moved over to the loud alien.

"I would have been a happy man if I could have buried my head in –"

An eruption of gasps filled the hall as X'antia walk up behind the alien and took a firm grasp on his three testicles through his trousers making the larger alien emote a noise that could only be described as a plea for help.

"Alright Scales, listen here!" X'antia snapped as she tightened her grip on the large aliens privates making him whimper. "You want to teach the kid how to harden up – I get it –but I have fixed that damn music box of his three times since he came on board. " She shouted as she tugged downwards causing the rest of the room to gasp in empathy – a couple of crewmembers cupped their own privates in empathy for their fellow crewmate.

"I have shit I need to do. I have weapons I need to sell. I can't be fixin' that box all the time. Ya' here!?" X'antia shouted as she shoved the alien back into the table releasing his testicles in the process.

"I thought that was the reason you were 'ere woman?" The scaled man spat back at X'antia as he regained his composure, standing up towering over the smaller alien. His large grey hulking form intimidating to the other members of the crew; Scales was a bully – it was known on the ship – he was only good for the sheer force the shark-like alien brought to the party.

"No wait, I remember you are here as the captain's live in whore." He chuckled darkly as he grabbed hold of the younger aliens shoulder and shoved her into one of the tables with a loud crash as she toppled backwards over the table onto her feet.

"You take that back!" The young Terran shouted from the food cue, slamming his tray of food down onto the side he ran over to the fight and tried to grab hold of the shark creatures arm but was swatted away into the far wall.

"Fuck off you little imp!" Scales shouted as Peter stood up from the floor wiping his bloodied cheek, looking over he watched as the alien grabbed a hold of X'antia and slapped her across the face much to the horror of some of the crew and the joy of the others.

Turning on his heel Peter Quill ran out of the canteen and through the main rooms of the ship up to the Captain's office. He knew better than to burst in unannounced but this was an emergency with a gulp the teenager pushed into the office with a crash.

"Captain!" Quill exclaimed out of breath, grasping onto the nearest table to catch himself. Yondu stood in his office facing a collection of holographic screen which displayed the shadowed faces of two men.

"Get out of here boy!" Yondu shouted at the teenager before turning back to the screen to continue the meetings. "We gon' bring ya the stuff by the end of the week." The Captain said gruffly, trying to ignore the panting teenager behind him.

"Captain!" Quill shouted again trying to get the Captain's attention much to the latter's irritation. He was not a fan of being interrupted during a deal he was slaving over.

"Get outta 'ere I am busy boy!" Yondu exclaimed as he threw a book at the teenager who managed to dodge the projectile with a gasp.

"You got my money?" Yondu snapped at the screen as he turned away from the boy, the shadowed figure nodded slowly before his distorted voice came over the monitor. "Deliver the cargo and you shall have your money Ravenger." With that the screens cut off and the meeting was over.

Yondu let out a grunt as he turned around to Quill with a face like thunder. The kid new better than to disrupt a meeting with a punter. "Boy, this better be worth ma' time! Interrupting me during a deal, you know better than tha'!" He exclaimed as he leaned onto his desk crossing his arms.

"There is a fight!" Yondu raised a brow, there were always fights on the ship – they were Ravengers, they were not known for the sunny dispositions not their manners or etiquette.

"There is always a fight boy. We're Ravengers!" Yondu exclaimed tired of the commotion the teenager was causing.

"But Tia is fighting Scales!" Quill exclaimed, expecting some reaction from the Captain but none came. The blue alien sat down in his chair and picked up one of his small figurines from his control console and looked it over.

"That ain't my concern boy. Girl shouldn't be causing fights with bigger folks." Yondu said without looking up from his figurine, he waited a moment for a reaction from the Terran but none came the room was quickly vacated and the door slammed on the Captain who let out a groan and cracked his neck, spinning his chair around and brining up footage of the canteen on one of his screens.

Yondu watched the fight over his monitor and couldn't help but route for the female alien. He had taken a liking to the girl, not that he would ever admit it to himself or his crew. The former sex slave had managed to carve her way into the depths of the Ravenger's mind. Yondu took no interest in her when she was a child but as she grew it was harder and harder for the Captain to not pay attention to her feminine form.

He let her get away with more than he should, he knew that – but he also knew that the young alien would never see him as anything more than the old Ravenger that bought her for a price from her former master. He wasn't the type to settle for one dish anyway – he enjoyed dipping his fingers into all of the dishes the galaxy had to offer. No, he could never settle for just one dish – he let out a groan as he shook his thoughts from his head and watched the screen in front of him letting out a howl of laughter as he caught sight of the position the two aliens were in.

"You fucking bitch!" Scales exclaimed as he lay face down on the floor with X'antia on his back, legs wrapped around his head chocking him, whilst her whip tied his arms and legs in place. A group of Ravengers had circled the two cheering for their respective team.

"Apologize to me before I turn you into an entrée." X'antia hissed as she tightened the grip on the shark's neck.

"Valkurian whore!" Spat Scales as he tried to wriggle free but to no use, the bonds grew tighter and the Valkurian's legs wrapped tighter around the aliens airways making him choke.

"Apologize, Scales." X'antia said as she tightened the grip making other Ravengers wince a little.

"I ain't apologizing too no slave whore!" Scales gasped as much as he could, making the yellow haired alien chuckle.

"3…2…."

"Alright X'antia he is sorry just him go." One of the other Ravengers exclaimed as they watched their friend choke slowly beneath the female. "Are you going to break it again?" X'antia snapped as she tightened her grip pressing down on the gills of the alien.

"No…" Scales gasped as he tried to gain some air into his lungs to no avail. "I can't hear you…" X'antia sang as she looked over to her friends with a smile. "No, I won't!" Scales exclaimed.

"Promise?" X'antia chuckled knowing she had gone too far she let up some pressure on the sharks gills letting him breathe. "I promise." He growled as he took in as much air as he could. X'antia quickly jumped off of the alien and landed next to him brushing herself down.

"Good now _fuck off_!"

Yondu couldn't help but laugh as he watched the large hulking alien leave the room – clearly shamed by the public display. Yondu knew that Scales was one hell of a sack of muscle, that was the main reason he kept him in the crew, he was pure brute force and intimidation which was good during certain dealings.

However, Yondu had also watched X'antia over the last decade, she was street smart when she came to the crew as a teenager – as she grew she trained alongside the others and she learned her own style of combat. Yondu had seen it in action – she was smaller than the other crew members, she was more agile and faster – this would often beat over sheer force. Her agility and frame combined with her energy whip made her quite a little firecracker.

Looking back at the screen Yondu raised a brow with a smile, young Quill was making his way down the corridor to the canteen with one of X'antia's guns.

"X'antia I am here to help you!" Quill exclaimed as he ran into the canteen pointing the gun at the group of Ravengers making them step back a little. X'antia let out a roar of laughter as did a number of other Ravengers all clocking onto the big problem which the young Terran had not noticed.

"You're laughing at me? I came to save you and you're laughing at me…." Quill exclaimed in despair.

"That works better when you have the ammo clip in." X'antia laughed as she made her way over to the teen and took the gun off of him and placed it over her shoulder with a smile bending down to kiss the teenage boy on the head in thanks. Quill let out a mock disgust noise as he wiped his head and then sat down to finish his meal.

"Thanks Little Terran."

 **X'antia POV**

I was so tired, the sale had gone tits up, so that was one brawl. Then the mishap in the cafeteria and now I was just getting to the final steps of finishing the Terran's music player. I would get some sleep soon I promised myself foolishly; screwing the final piece of the cassette player together I pressed the play button and heard the sound of the Terran music play letting out a smile I placed the foamy earpieces over my large pointed ears and listened to the noises that followed.

The Terran had let me listen to his music many times before, I had grown to enjoy some Terran music – it was different to the music I was used to. The words had more meaning than the songs I had come to know – it was nice. I let myself slump over slightly as the music filled my ears.

 **Yondu POV**

X'antia was meant to show me the weapons cargo she had set up for the trade. She never turned up, that was not like her – looking over at the clock in my office I let out a grunt of protest before pushing myself off my chair and making my way out of my office down to the engineering unit. It was late, the day workers were asleep and the night crew were few and far between – all working, which they bloody well should be if they knew what was good for them.

As I made my way through the main engineering area I noticed how quiet it was, that was not normal. On a good day music was blaring from the speakers – thanks to the small Terran kid – I really did need to talk to them about that. This was a Ravenger ship not a blasted Terran disco!

As I made my way into X'antia's area of the unit I noticed the pile of yellow dreadlocks covering a sleeping figure. The bloody girl had fallen asleep! I chuckled to myself as I watched the alien woman snoring quite unattractively, her hair falling over her face. Quill's music player on the table and the headphones falling off of the aliens head, gently making my way over to her sleeping form I removed the headphones from her ears and turned it off.

Placing the cassette player down on the table, I looked down at the sleeping woman; she had indeed grown since the days when I picked her up. She was just a skinny little child then – now she had grown into…well not a skinny little kid.

Her milky lilac skin had darkened ever so slightly with age, the scars on her arms and neck had got lighter over time. Her hair once short and spikey had grown out and now was platted and decorated with nuts and bolts from her work. I never understood why she used tools to decorate her hair – she tried to explain it once something about, never knowing when she will need a bolt. I smiled as I moved a few locks from her face making her sigh happily, snapping me out of my train of thought.

 _ **Pull your shit together Udonta!**_

I could not go fucking soft, not now. Not with this crew – they would rip me to pieces if they thought I was getting soft. I was not having that shit. Not now, not ever.

"Girly, wake up!" I shouted making the sleeping woman jolt up with a small squeak. "What the fuck?" She groaned as she rubbed her eyes and looked around her room for a clock.

"…What time is it?" She asked groggily as she rubbed her eyes. I looked over to the clock it was coming close to 1am – past clocking out time for her, but still I was the Captain and she will work until I tell her to stop.

"I don't pay you to sleep on the job." I snapped as the yellow haired alien, stood up from her chair and stretched obviously annoyed at the wake-up call.

"You don't pay me…." I grinned at the remark as she pulled on one of her jumpers – the room was cold now I paid attention to it and the fact that she had been sleeping in her shorts and vest top did not help.

"Never mind that, do you got them there weapons ready?" I snapped as I tore my eyes away from the young alien who was pulling her jumper over her head.

"Yes, they're over there." She said through muffled jumper fabrics, pointing to the collection of boxes by her bed.

"Couldn't this have waited until morning Captain?" X'antia complained as she walked over and bend down and pulled a collection of weapons from under her bed. "Shut up girl and show me the goods." I immediately regretted looking down – the young woman had bent over under her bed so her arse was in the air in shorts – _what did I do to deserve this torment?!_

"Is that a euphemism Captain?" X'antia chuckled from under the bed, I tried so hard to move my eye line somewhere other than the backside of my head technician but it was very difficult in this position. Did she know I was looking? I mean she is used to being in front of men – I mean she was used to it….

I stepped back a little and turned around as X'antia stood up from the floor holding a box of a few weapons.

"Alright, these here are just the samples. The rest are boxed up in cargo ready to go." X'antia said clicking into her technician mode. "Alrighty, first we have your generic guns with the full auto, high damage and hard recoil so just your generic point and blast." She said as she pulled out one of the guns and handed it to me. It was light, a nice weight really her copyright seal was burned into the copper base of the weapon. This was the only agreement we had – she would make her weapons and I would sell them for profit, we would go 50/50 as long as X'antia was allowed to sign her work.

"These little ones are the 4 round, ballistic pistols. Two double chambers for your plasma coils." She continued as she pulled out another weapon for me to look over.

"What's this here?" I asked as I pulled out a small metal ball. "Shrapnel grenade, will slice through everything and it's mother when this baby goes off." X'antia chuckled darkly as she took the bal out of my hands.

"Pull this little silver pin out and you have 10 seconds to get the fuck away." She said as she pointed to the pin, taking the ball back from her hands I placed it in my jacket pocket.

 **3POV**

"I think I will take me one of those."

The Valkurian watched as her captain took the grenade from her and placed it in his pocket; shaking her head she placed the box back on the ground and kicked it under the bed

"Yes, my work is a pic and mix." She grumbled to herself.

"What you jammerin' about girl?" Yondu snapped as he slumped into her chair. "Nevermind." X'antia sighed as she rubbed her head pulling the curtains to close off her sleeping quarters from her captain.

"We heading down making the drop off and you are not killing the punters this time – then we're gonna' be settling for a night to stock up and relax." Yondu said as he pulled up some of X'antia's blueprints from the table and looked them over.

"I am not babysitting that little Terran again! I am going to have some R&R same as the rest of you." X'antia exclaimed a little unexpectedly making Yondu turn to her, shooting her a glare.

"Who else will watch him?!" He snapped up to the alien woman who stood in the middle of the room with her arms crossed. "Get Kraglin – he can do it!" She snapped back.

"He is just about old enough to enjoy the brothels….." Yondu spoke up making X'andia glare back at her captain, chewing on the inside of her lip to hold in her snarky remarks…it didn't work.

"There are plenty more brothels in the quadrant. The kid will get this tip wet one day." X'antia snapped back in a tone which made Yondu chuckle for a moment. "Plus this stop off is one of the few that I can enjoy! I am in no way shape or form staying on this damn ship while you all go and enjoy yourselves!" Yondu stopped chuckling at the thought that crossed his mind. He began to hope she meant that she could drink outside the ship but he knew better than to think that naïvely.

"I have work to do." X'antia commented dryly obviously in a worse mood for the recent conversation."Get on with it then." Yondu commented dryly, knowing full well that she couldn't.

"You're in my chair." X'antia stated plainly as she motioned towards her large comfy chair which the captain had taken possession of.

"I sit where I want girly." Yondu smirked as he watched the young woman grow with annoyance as she continued to chew on the inside of her mouth.

"I will just sit on your lap." She snapped finally making Yondu laugh. She wouldn't dare sit on his lap – he knew he better than that he thought to himself. "Would you now?" He chuckled as he watched X'antia's face for any slight change.

"Last chance." X'antia threatened making the captain raise a brow, she was getting cocky – she was usually cocky but he doubted she would actually go through will sitting on his lap.

"Don't make empty threats girl." Yondu growled lightly making the former prostitute smirk as she moved forward and at herself on her Captain's lap making him swallow hard.

She wasn't heavy but Yondu was still not expecting her to actually sit on his lap. It took a moment for him to relax under her- still in shock but not visible on his face. X'antia draped her legs over the arm rest making her Captain reposition himself slightly.

"Empty threats." X'antia mused to herself as she pulled out one of her notebooks and began jotting some plans down in shorthand.

Yondu sat in silence for a moment, quite enjoying the position he was in – I mean it wasn't the first time a woman sat on his lap but X'antia had never sat like this with him – part of him thought she was waiting to do something horrible when in reality the engineer was far too tired to argue about seating arrangements..

"Gimme that music player girl." Yondu snapped as he relaxed into the chair making the female chuckle as she handed it over to her captain who placed it over his ears.

"What's the runt been listenin' to?" He grumbled to himself, placing the foam earpieces over his ears he let the music sink into his mind making him swallow hard as he realized the genre of the song.

"What's that?" He snapped his eyes open the music still playing in his ears. X'antia looked up from her notes and winced a little – she ahd forgotten to ask Yondu for authorization to build this for the Terran kid but she guessed now would be a good time to ask.

"Oh it's a prototype I've been working on for the kid." X'antia said with a coy smile, Yondu let out a grunt of disapproval, he knew that X'antia was supposed to bring all her work to him for clearance first – after the mess with the atom bomb five years ago it was a new rule.

"What is it?" Yondu sighed as he took the notebook from his engineer making her smile.

"A helmet." X'antia answered sweetly, looking down at the woman spread across his lap the alien captain couldn't find the will to be mad at her for such a silly thing. "A helmet? What do he need a helmet for?" Yondu asked as he looked over the plans, it looked like a nice design but the practicalities of it were at a loss for the captain.

"What does it do?" Yondu asked gruffly as he handed back the notebook to the woman. "This helmet will be able to shrink down to fit around any size face, just place the little chip into their ear. It will have a built in oxygen supply and purification so he will be able to breath just fine when you send him into those tight little spaces." She chuckled at the last comment making her captain growl under his breath.

"Anything else?" X'antia shook her head and placed the notebook down on the table.

"It's still in the planning phase; I only started working on it today."

"You're too soft on the little runt." Yondu sighed as he leaned his head back into the chair, looking up at the ceiling.

"I'm too soft? _You_ were meant to deliver him and you kept him. I'm not the soft one…" X'antia snapped gently receiving a jolt from her captain, making her wince a little.

"He fits well into small spaces." Yondu said, spewing out the line that the crew had all known too well. He was good for this or he was good for that – it was all a massive ruse but no one dare bring him up on it. Well none but X'antia…

 **Yondu POV**

"He fits into small spaces."

"What like I used to?" X'antia chuckled.

I watched as X'antia looked up at me, looking her in the eyes at this distance made me a little nervous – not that I would ever let I show. She was only a few inches away from my face, if I moved my head down a little I would easily brush over the top of her hair.

"Exactly."

'' _ **I don't know what it is that makes me love you so**_

 _ **I only know I never want to let you go**_

 _ **Cause you started something**_

 _ **Oh can't you see**_

 _ **Ever since we met you've had a hold on me**_

I looked over to the main door of the workshop and remembered it was still open. If any crew members saw us like this, the mutiny I would have on my hands would be unpleasant at best and I was in no gaming mood at this point in time.

The music was messing with my mind, those soft human lyrics – what were the use? Ridiculous Terran culture honestly…

I could feel myself getting way to comfortable with X'antia on my lap. She carried on with her work as if I wasn't even there – as if I had become part of the chair itself. It was obvious that she felt nothing for me – I suppose this was a good thing…I was the Captain – I couldn't begin to be going soft. It would be the end of me. It would be unthinkable, laughable even. No, no this was not going to happen, no way.

"Get up. I'm calling it a night. Get those weapons packed up." I snapped, making the alien on my lap jump out of her skin as I pushed her off of my lap before I stood up and make my way out of the room, leaving the music player on the table and a confused alien on the floor.

 _ **It happens to be true…**_

 _ **I only want to be with you.**_


	3. Chapter 3: R&R

**Hello everyone!**

 **I hope you are enjoying the story so far, we have had a bit of fluff but now the story really starts moving. (Hopefully!)**

 **This chapter contains scenes which imply sexual behaviour - if this offends you...sorry?**

 **If you like this chapter and where the story is going drop me a review and let me know. It really makes my day to read your reviews :)**

 **Also, could you guys let me know if Yondu is to OOC? He is proving a challenge to write for as his character is so all over the shop ^_^**

 **Hope you like this chapter! Seee you on the other side!**

* * *

 **Chapter Three: R &R**

 **X'antia POV**

The deal had gone on without a hitch – the weapons had been carted off to their new owners and I had a nice chunk of units transferred into my account. There were certain benefits to this job I had to admit it and one of the best benefits was going to be enjoyed tonight –this planet was known for their entertainment – I suppose after working in the sex industry for as long as I did I wouldn't enjoy being around that environment . That was true of the alien brothels but when it came to cybernetics and robot hookers – which I could get behind or on top of as it were.

I was quite pleased that the quadrant was starting to move away from live working girls and guys and moved to a more mechanical based working robot. They came in all different shapes and sizes and were non conscious and functional for their job. So there was no emotional manipulation or attachment which was nice.

This particular city had a special kind of robot, their robots were implanted with a chip in their core which allowed them to sense the needs of the punter and transform their mechanical bodies into replicas of exactly what the punter desires. If I wanted a six foot Terran man with green eyes I could have it. If I wanted a petite alien woman I could also enjoy that – it was amazing technology and I really wanted to somehow use it in my toys. The most interesting part of the technology was that it was entirely subjective, if I wanted something the robot would transform to that exact thing but to any onlookers it appeared as the generic robot – no one knew what the other was seeing, their privacy remained and their reputation untarnished.

We would often place bets in the crew on what each person's robot would look like to them, that had led to a more than awkward conversation on more than one occasion. The guys had often pressed me as to what I liked in a partner – a pulse was apparently not the answer they were expecting. They knew I had as much romantic inclination as a wet blanket – having worked in brothels most of my life, you don't tend to form lasting emotional attachment and sex is sex at the end of the day.

It was getting late; I was able to clock off early to get ready for the evening. The Captain had finally given me the OK to go out with them to the brothels tonight – he seemed more annoyed than usual, I was sure it was due to the fact that I wasn't taking care of the little Terran teenager. If they could have a good time then so could I.

Collecting a towel from my draw I pulled out the shower caddy and made my way down the hall to the communal shower room – it was relatively empty which was nice, I used to think showering alongside Ravenger men would be dangerous but after one unfortunate encounter between myself and a touchy crewmate many of the males learned not to look or touch me whilst I was cleaning. Looking back now I may have gone a little rough on the poor guy – never mind, he had to learn somehow and maybe if he had used his sense he wouldn't be walking around peeing into a bag.

As I made my way through the steamy wet room, I looked for a vacant shower, which on a Ravenger ship was not hard to find. I think the men were more scared of soap and water then they were of grenade launchers…very few of them smelled anything less than vile on a good day. Some members however did use the showers – more for their own recreational benefit than anything else but who was I to judge – it was a long trip and your hands do get a bit monotonous after the first few weeks.

Once I came across a vacant shower cubicle I hung up my towel and caddy and turned on the water – I waited a few moments for the hot water to come through and gently pulled out two water resistant ear shields and placed them over my ears. My ears were way too sensitive for hot water or cold water really.

Once my ears were safely wrapped up I stepped under the flow of water and let the scorching water sooth my aching body. I winced a little as the hot water ran over the fresh wounds from the other day, looking down at my body I let out a sigh – more scars to add to the mix. I wasn't once for self-criticism but I had begun to count the amount of scars I got over the years, I was easily up in the high eighties. Pouring out some shampoo onto my hands I gently rubbed over my locks, making sure to clean out the metal coils and springs which were embedded into the hair, gently patting the hair to make sure I didn't untangle any of the locks. I waited for the water to run clear before I turned off the water and wrapped myself in my towels slipping on my shoes before I made my way back to my workshop to dry off and change.

Yawning gently to myself, I pulled off my head towel and began to dry off my locks as I walked down the corridor to my workshop. Pushing the door open I let out a grumble as I noticed the Captain sat in my chair again playing with a little figurine I had sitting on my desk.

"You're watching that boy tonight."

My face dropped, we had been through this argument already- there was no way in hell I was staying on this damn ship. No way, not happening under any circumstances.

"No." I answered dryly as I walked over to my living quarters and pulled the curtain back before stepping in to dry off.

"That wasn't a request girly." Yondu snapped from behind the curtain. I could feel myself getting mad as I quickly dried off my body and slipped into a pair of black shorts and a blouse.

"I ain't watching him. I am going out the same as the rest of you!" I snapped as I pulled the curtain back crossing my arms at the Captain. Who looked less than amused by my response, glaring up at me he tightened his jaw and stood up walking over til he was towering over me.

"It was an order, not a request." He breathed down at me making me narrow my eyes and frown.

"I don't have to follow your orders! I am off the clock." I snapped as I pointed to the clock in my workshop smiling to myself in triumph. "If the crew can get their tips wet than so can I." I stepped forward again happy with my own confidence, there was no way I was staying.

"You are never off the clock girl, if you recall I bought you from your Master which in turn makes me your new master." My face dropped, he wasn't playing with me – he was pulling the slave card…I couldn't believe it.

"You bastard!" I shouted as I slapped the Captain across the face, immediately regretting my actions closing my eyes I waited for some kind of impact, a piercing or a slice anything really as long as it was quick. I could feel the tears filling up in my eyes, it had been years since I had been threatened with my slave status – I thought Yondu bought me to free me, I guess I was naïve to think such a thing.

"If you were anyone else, you would have lost that arm." Yondu growled darkly as he grabbed me by the wrist. I lowered my head as I prepared for a slap or some kind of punishment – the years of slave training coming back as I felt my confidence fall away as I slumped back into the darkness in my head.

 **Yondu POV**

Well I wasn't expecting that reaction, I grimaced as I wiped the stinging sensation off of my check. I watched as X'antia deteriorated in front of my eyes, her confident posture faltering as she slumped over in submission.

Then it hit me, the pang of guilt in my chest – I should have known better than to pull rank like that. I could have used the Captain rank but no I brought up her slave status – damn it. I thought she knew how I joked about it by now, she had been around us for ten years now and I had never once pulled her on being my slave. I let out a sigh as I watched the woman cower slightly, I was a fucking idiot.

"I was only joking girly…" I said gently as the alien looked away from me. "You know I ain't no slave trader." I said letting go of her wrist not moving as she pulled back from my grasp and stepped back looking down at the floor.

"I'll stay on the ship." X'antia said quietly as she turned away from me, pulling out her chair and sitting down at her desk pulling out some tools and setting up for some more work.

I had come to play with her a little, messing with her was fun – most of the time. I mean, of course she was going to go into town with the rest of us. She had earned as much working as she had been over the last few weeks. I thought she was going to play along as she usually did, come back with some witty remark or some flirty comeback – that was what I was hoping for. I guess I went to far this time – I sighed as I crossed my arms leaning on the worktop.

"Come on girl, I was joking – of course you can go." I said dismissively trying to cheer the girl up but to no avail, she continued tinkering away at her work quietly. "Why are you so difficult woman?" I groaned as I picked up her little fancy dingy on her table and looked it over – the little metal rabbit would look cute on my control console.

"Is that all you wanted Captain?" X'antia asked quietly, not looking up from her work. I groaned at stood up from the worktop making the girl jump a little. "Come on girl, I was joking – if you ain't got thick enough skin for a joke then you are in the wrong crew." I snapped as I waited for some kind of response but none came.

"Am I going or not Captain?" X'antia snapped as she looked up from her work. In all honesty, I didn't want her to go…I knew what she wanted from her time in the city – it was the same as any of the other members of the crew. I knew she had got her kicks somehow over the last few years – I didn't really like to think about it but it was obvious that it was happening.

What was I playing at? Why did I care where she got her kicks from? I am going to go fuck a whore the same as the rest of the men, she is just another crew member – she is nothing special to me. I bought her years ago for a price, that was it – she became part of the crew and that is all she will ever be – nothing more than another member of the crew. She can fuck who she likes – I couldn't give a fuck about who touched her, how they would have their hands all over her. No, it's nothing different from what the other men have. What I was going to have – she didn't care where I got my kicks…she didn't care at all, so why the fuck should I?

"Do what you fucking want – you miserable bitch." I snapped as I turned on my heel and left the workroom.

 **3POV**

X'antia was hurt by the Captain's comments but she didn't sit on them for too long. She had been dealt worse over the years; she just learned to pay the insults no mind. What had shook her however, was the fact that her captain had played the slaver card – something she thought her would never do. She hated to admit it but she had lost some respect for her captain at that moment – that was something he may never earn back.

As the night went on the crew made their way into the city, the men were visibly excited by the prospect of some female company – albeit mechanical in nature. They seemed to think no less of the fact that they were essentially paying for an extremely expensive sex toy. X'antia walked alongside a group of her crewmates, each of them trading banter and insults to one another, the team thought of their lead engineer as no less of a male than anyone else in the team. She was very much female in biology but her mannerisms after ten years were no different to that of the male crewmates which was a good thing in most circumstances – however on nights like this, when their engineer dressed and acted as a female it didn't take a genius to notice their confusion.

The Ravenger clans had their reputations, that was a benefit in these circumstances – the brothels and bars would clear out for their service, making sure that their customers got the best of their facilities – they paid a good amount of units and the proprietors new this.

X'antia and her cohort made themselves comfortable on the large circular sofas in the centre of the room in time robots of male and female design came out to service the team, dancing and drinking with their punters. Each member of the crew had one or two robots at their side paying them attention – each robot looked the same yet unique. Changing their appearance for their punters but at their own discretion – each robot looked different to each punter and no one would ever be able to tell the appearance of the other.

As the drinks continued to flow, the company got rowdier and rowdier members of the crew began to escort their company into private rooms for more of a private experience. X'antia sat nuzzled on the lap of her robot – the mechanical form now transformed into a young muscled alien man for her eyes only. The yellow haired alien, was enjoying herself way too much – it had been a good while since she had received any wanted attention and at this point she didn't care if it was paid for and provided by a robot.

X'antia oblivious to the fiery glare that was directed at her from the corner of the room, stood up and followed her robot down the corridor and into one of the private rooms, followed by a cheer from her teammates

One Ravenger who was not appreciating the spectacle was Yondu Udonta, sitting in the corner of the room with his own robot whore, the captain glared at the young female who was giggling tirelessly in the middle of the room. His robot attempted to maintain his attentions but to little avail, the Captain continued drinking his drink and watching the scene unfold before him as his engineer followed the robot into a private room.

If looks could kill, the robot would have been in for repairs, the blue skinned older alien could feel the rage filling up inside him. He couldn't help himself, was he being protective of the young woman or was he just plain jealous? The captain took a long gulp of his drink and then proceeded to follow his robot into his own private room to attempt to release some of his pent up anger.

Only adding to the built up frustration was the fact that the Captain had been led into the bedroom next to that of his lead engineer – he could hear her moans and screams of pleasure through the walls. He tried not to imagine the actions that were taking place just on the other side of the wall.

 **Yondu POV**

This is just fucking ridiculous – pull your damn self together! What the fuck did you think would happen? X'antia would see you as anything but an old aging Ravenger and jump into your arms instead? Don't be a fucking soft moron Yondu! You are a Ravenger – you're a crook and a nasty shit, you don't have any room for sentiment – for favourin' none else but yourself. Sentiment is for fools, for kind-hearted folk and that ain't you. You are a crook, you are a killer and a mercenary – you are the worst kind of shit in the galaxy and you know it.

I couldn't even belittle my damn self! Her fucking moans were all I could hear – how on earth was I supposed to get off? I never had any problems before – the robots normally did everything I needed…taking a moment to look down at the robot I gasped and shoved her off the top of me. Her appearance had changed again – she wasn't the busty green haired alien she had morphed into previously…

"Sir is there a problem with my programming?" The robot asked as she looked over my shocked form. I couldn't breathe, I had to look away –this was so fucked up, even for me. I knew these robots took on the form of the thing we desire the most at that point – I guess my mind had wandered a little too far.

Stranding at the end of the bed was none other than the perfect replica of our resident engineer. She was **perfect** , everything was correct – the long yellow dreadlocks, the milk lilac skin – the scars were all in the right places…if I didn't know any better I would have mistaken her for the real thing.

"This is what you want isn't it Captain?" I swallowed hard as I looked back over at the perfectly shaped replica of my engineer. Damn it, even the voice was the same I could feel the heat stirring as my cock throbbed almost painfully in my trousers.

I watched with a mix of self-loathing and lust as the fake X'antia began slowly pulling down the straps of her bra, slipping the silky fabric from off of her shoulder and down her arm. Oh this was so wrong, even for me. I couldn't ask her to stop – all I could hear was X'antia moans from the next room – that egged me on even more. I watched the replica bend over and slip down her sheer underwear before I lost it completely. Grabbing hold of the replica of my engineer and pushing her up against the wall.

I couldn't control myself; I knew I wouldn't ever get to touch X'antia like this in real life. She had made it clear that she was not attracted to me, she only like to mess with me. Over the last five years all she had done was mess with my damn head, she was making me soft, I couldn't be fucking soft!

I prayed silently that if I was able to get my release from this replica, then the lust for the real thing would go away.

 **3POV**

As the Captain sought after a sense of relief, the sounds of X'antia's moaning and pleading filled the air egging him on. The moans and screams became louder and louder as the young engineer came closer to her release, her robot worked her hard and rough against the wall – the force knocking off the clock in the Captain's room.

"Alright, that is enough!" Yondu exclaimed as he pressed the off switch on the robot before collecting his clothes form the floor and dressing himself, storming out of his room and banging hard on the door of the adjoining bedroom.

"Rooms booked fuck off!" X'antia moaned from behind the door, the yellow haired engineer now laying on the bed with the robots head between her legs trying to push out the sound of the door banging.

"Fuck off! Can't you hear I am busy in here?" X'antia yelled as the banging continued on her door, pressing down on the robots head she leaned into his tongue and let out a moan. It went quiet for a moment, relieved the young woman continued to lean back enjoying the sensations the robot was providing.

Her moans were cut off my the sound of a sharp whistle, opening her eyes to look around X'antia gasped at the sight before her, her robot had been shot right through the temples by an arrow – falling back onto it's back it short-circuited and returned to its robotic form as it broke.

Looking over at the door X'antia noticed a hole in the door, which was now being opened – pulling up the covers from the bed, and wrapping them around her body X'antia cursed to herself and watched the bedroom door swing open to reveal her less than chipper looking captain.

"You have got to be fucking kidding me! What the hell is your problem?" X'antia shouted at her Captain who had now walked into the bedroom and closed the door behind him.

"You sounded like you were having way too much fun!" Yondu snapped back picking his arrow out of the air and placing it back on his hip halter, pulling his jacket over using it to cover his still obvious erection pressing in his trousers.

X'antia stood up from the bed, tightening her grip on the bed sheets around her – the material not doing much for the imagination, it was sheer and clung to the curves on her body a little too well for the aliens liking.

"So that is reason enough to come in and wreck _my_ robot?" X'antia snapped as she motioned to her now broken robot on the bedroom floor. "You are paying for that." X'antia snapped, glaring at her captain.

The two aliens were in a stand-off, Yondu blocked the door with his arms crossed and the Valkurian stood by her bed seething in silence.

"Get dressed girl, you're going back to the ship." Yondu broke the silence, tearing his eyes away from the nearly naked engineer – the images of her replica flashed before his eyes, secretly the captain wondered to himself if the real X'antia looked and felt as good as the robot had done moments before.

"Get out of my room! Go back to your fucking your damn robot." X'antia shouted marching towards her Captain and motioning for him to leave the room but he didn't budge.

"I was trying to but all I could hear was you!" Yondu snapped angrily, for a moment feeling slightly embarrassed at the implication of his last confession.

"Well turn the robot up! Block me out!" X'antia snapped, not paying any attention to her Captain semi-confession of sin. "It's a bit hard!" Yondu snapped back making the yellow haired alien break character for a moment and chuckle at the innuendo.

"You know it is meant to be right?" She chuckled with a smirk only making Yondu angrier, he was glad that his skin tone allowed for him to not visibly blush. "Go back to the ship!" he snapped grabbing hold of one of her wrists, making her drop a piece of her sheet which she groaned and clumsily collected with her spare hand.

"What is your damn problem? Do I storm into your room whilst you are balls deep in a hooker and ruin your R&R?" X'antia snapped pulling herself out of the grasp of her captain and walking over to her bed to collect her clothes from the floor. Yondu was seething, the adrenaline still pumping he followed her further into the room.

"You know what, if you have such a fucking problem with me getting some why don't you just say so!?" X'antia snapped finally under the silence, turning to her Captain who stood angrily in the middle of the room. "What is is Capt'n? You jealous cus you're too old to enjoy yourself now?" X'antia chuckled darkly moving over to her Captain.

"Watch yourself girl." Yondu growled as the yellow haired alien moved closer and closer to him. Swallowing hard, the Ravenger tried to deal with the throbbing in his pants – something he had hoped would go away but had worsened over the last few moments.

"What is your problem? Can't you get off – is that it?" X'antia purred as she tied up the sheet around her and ran her hand up the chest of her Captain making him tense up.

"I am warning you girl!" Yondu growled as he watched his engineer try to toy with him, much like she did the first him she met him. He had no interest in her then – she was a child, now it was different, she was grown and she knew it. She knew that she was a woman and that a man would react to that – Yondu knew she was messing with him for the fun of it and he didn't like it.

X'antia smirked to herself as the quickly pushed her Captain onto the bed and straddled his waist much to his shock. Swallowing hard, the captain mind tried not to stray into areas it shouldn't – he was trying so hard not to feel the warmth coming from the sheer fabric that covered the best parts of X'antia's body.

"Can't even please a robot whore can you?" X'antia hissed as she slowly began to roll her hips making Yondu close his eyes and look away from her for his own safety. He knew she was playing a game with him – she was a former hooker after all, there was no real interest she took in him. She was not attracted to him in the slightest – he knew that too well.

It was all biology and she knew it, it didn't matter if the man was her Captain or a random man from the street – all men reacted the same to certain stimuli and she was prepared to prove to her Captain that he was no better than any of the other men.

"You think you're so smart girl – you don't know a thing." Yondu snapped as he took hold of her chin pulling her face closer to his, he could feel the heat radiating off of her skin.

"You'd be surprised what I still remember." X'antia purred with a chuckle as the brought her face closer so that the warmth of her breath tickled the lips of her captain.

"Back in the day, when my clients couldn't get off – it wasn't because of what I was doing." She snapped darkly pulling her face back away from his making him curse himself as he let go of her face as he pushed her off of him onto the floor once more with a thud.

"You know what I feel so sorry for that fucking robot. You make my skin crawl!" X'antia growled through gritted teeth as she glared up at her Captain.

"You are not exactly a catch sweetheart!" Yondu barked back as he picked up the clothes on the bed and threw them at her. "Get dressed." He barked as the Valkurian groaned and stood up from the floor.

"No."

That was the final straw, with a growl the seething captain stood up from the bed and looped his arm around his engineer's waist; pulling her off the floor and onto his shoulder in one swift movement. X'antia let out a scream as she was lifted from the floor leaning to grab her clothes from the floor on her way up.

"Put me down!" X'antia barked slapping her Captain on the back, not doing very much in terms of damage. Yondu rolled his eyes and marched out of the brothel – he was pissed, all he wanted to do was enjoy some R&R and what he got in return was **_this_**. The bloody woman was driving him insane, he knew there was a reason that there were few female ravengers.

"You know there is a reason, there ain't no other women on my ship!" Yondu snapped at his engineer who kicked her legs in protest as she was carried up the hill. "Put me down now Yondu!" X'antia growled slapping the back of his head, making him wince and jolt her on his shoulder.

"You had your chance girl; you shouldn't have played with me like that." Yondu snapped as a great almighty crash echoed across the city making him drop X'antia.

 **X'antia POV**

Ok, I know I crossed a line tonight but I am getting really tired of getting thrown on the damn floor. "Damn it, did you have to drop me!?" I snarled as I wrapped my sheet around me, more for warmth now than anything else – it was freezing on this planet. A part of me did regret not dressing before I was dragged out of the room.

"What the fuck was that?!" Yondu snapped as he moved over next to me, I shot him a glare as I stood up and looked over the top of bolder beside us swallowing slightly at the scene in front of me. From what I could make out, I could see a large ship settled on the other side of the town – the symbol on the side matched that of the punter from the other day…

"Oh crap!" I groaned as I his back behind the rock. "Remember I told you about that punter who wanted to buy me, and we slaughtered him and his crew?" I said with a large fake smile. I could already see that the Captain had clocked onto what I was going to say – rolling his eyes he stood up and brushed the snow off of himself.

"I'm guessing that is the rest of his crew?" He groaned, as he looked over the rock. I winced a little at the glare the Captain shot me.

"Woman! One day I will get rid of you and I will jump for fucking joy!" Yondu snapped as he made his way back the way we came from, leaving me in the snow with my clothes. "Get dressed and go back to the damn ship – I will deal with you later!" He shouted back to me before he left my line of sight – I sighed as I watched him leave.

All of sudden I felt a strange tinge in my chest, was I worried about him? I mean, there was nothing to worry about – I had seen him kill groups of men without breaking a sweat. I was being silly – it must just be the cold and booze getting to me I thought to myself as I began to dress myself.

Something didn't feel right; as I pulled on my jacket and turned to see a group of men stood behind me. I swallowed hard, knowing full well who these men were – I had come across their kind when I was a child – the scars on their chest was well known amongst slaves.

 **They were Gatherers…**


	4. Chapter 4

_**I am so sorry this chapter took over a week to complete! I have been so busy with work and planning my wedding that I had been chipping away at it each night.**_

 _ **I am so so thankful for every comment I received on this story and they all really make my day and push me to keep writing the chapters. I have read all your comments and have added some bits into the next chapter that I hope you all will like.**_

 _ **Warning: This chapter has adult themes and many feelings. So if you are at all emotional turn back now. It's not worth it!**_

* * *

 **C hapter 4: **

The Ravenger crew were not overly pleased with their interruption, as many men scattered to pull up their trousers their crewmates armed themselves and ran out of the brothel into the ambush. Yondu made his way down into the chaos, his haka arrow piercing through the flesh of the enemy at unsightly speed; he couldn't help but let his mind wander to his engineer who he had left behind in the snow.

He knew that X'antia was well able to take care of herself, and he was slightly pissed that her and her team were the cause of this battle – however, he couldn't help but feel uneasy about the situation, something was not sitting right with Yondu and as he looked up at the ominous clouds which had started to circle the city, it bothered him more than he would care to admit. Stretching out his shoulders and shaking the daunting feeling from his mind, the captain sped up towards his crew oblivious to the chaos which was going on a few meter behind him.

X'antia had run. She had run for her life – never in the last decade had she been so scared of a group of people. She knew why she should be scared, even with her gun and whip she was no match for Grabbers – as a slave, she had been transported by Grabbers to her last Master. They were vicious, evil creatures who took particular pleasure in collecting and gathering would-be or past slaves for a price and selling them back into the slave trade. The engineer had managed to outrun the group of men before hiding behind a wall near the brothel – watching the battle go on. Pulling out her gun she began shooting at a number of foes in the head and back covering her crewmates as much as she could.

Crouching back behind the wall, X'antia pulled out her transmitter and called the Eclector and quickly scanned the area around her as she waited for the call the go through.

"What's up X'antia?" Kraglin's face appeared on the screen after a few moments making the yellow haired alien jump for a moment before hushing the nineteen year old.

"Kraglin – we have a problem, we are under attack down here. We are dealing with it as best as we can, I can't tell just yet how it will end but I need you to do something for me." X'antia whispered as she peered around the corner catching sight of the group of Gatherers which were making their way down the hill.

"Yeah, Tia what do you need?" Kraglin asked as he sat up alert in his chair, removing his boots from the table.

Looking away from the Grabbers for a moment X'antia took in the scenes of the battle which were taking place a few meters away from her; swallowing hard the young alien turned back to the screen. Clenching her fists, digging her nails into her palms she could feel the cold golden liquid leave her skin as she pierced her palms.

"There are Grabbers in the city, they have just found me. I need you to make sure that the Captain and you all get away from this planet – these guys are packing some heavy machinery that could do some real damage to the crew." X'antia said in hushed tones as she moved slightly into the shadows away from the line of sight of the Grabbers.

"So what do you need me to do?" Kraglin asked worked up by the new information being fed to him.

"I am going to lead the Grabbers away from our ship yard; they seem to like the look of me. I will keep them distracted and hopefully board and steal their ship and get back to the main ship as soon as I can." X'antia whispered as she continued to slowly shuffle away from the men hunting her. Gasping slightly as she caught her back on a piece of shattered glass discarded from the newly bombed hostel.

"Under no circumstances are you to let the Captain know that I am not on the ship. Tell him I am sulking in my room or some shit, make something up you're good at that." X'antia snapped quietly as she looked over the broken bits of concrete, noticing the group of men approaching her.

"You want me to lie to the Cap'tn?" Kraglin exclaimed.

"Please Kraglin!" X'antia exclaimed before covering her mouth and moving from her position trying as much as she could to hide from her hunters. "Fine….but you owe me!" Kraglin replied shaking his head as he moved to turn off the transmission.

"Kraglin, how is the kid?" X'antia asked gently, her thoughts for a moment going to the young Terran boy – who she hoped had no idea the danger she or his crew was in.

"He is asleep." Kraglin said quietly, turning the screen to show Quill asleep on the floor, covered by jackets and a blanket – making X'antia smile momentarily before she swallowed and turned off the transmission.

Poking her head around to check on the position of the Gatherers, X'antia's heart stopped for a moment when she couldn't locate the men amongst the rush of the crowd. Amidst the turmoil of the on-going fight X'antia managed to fight her way through the cluster of men and aliens before she collided with a large hulking figure.

"Come with me girly."

Looking up from her position, a gasp left her lips as X'antia stepped back and ran away in the opposing direction, running into the . He could see her neon yellow dreadlocks, poking from behind a tree in the distance; grinning to himself the hunter followed the brightness of the hair. The long dreadlocks, mixing in with the snow covered bushes and trees behind the rubble of the brothel. The hulking Gatherer following behind her, fast for his size he soon caught up to the Valkurian.

The gatherer watched as the alien ran away, she was a pretty prize indeed he thought to himself as he watched her move behind the trees. He had not seen many Valkurian since the destruction of Valkar, she looked very much like the rest of her kin. The creamy lilac skin which was littered with scars, the long pointed ears that poked out from her lengthy tangled dreadlocks, she was shorter than others of her kin, not obscenely so but enough to notice the difference – _maybe she was a runt in her family_? He thought to himself as he slowly followed behind her into the trees. She was toned, even muscular to some extent, he noted as he watched her body move between the trees, her tones calf muscles contracting as she ran and her toned arms, grasping onto the trunks of the trees and pushing herself from trunk to trunk, leaving hand marks upon the snow covered wood.

 _Yes, she was a pretty prize indeed._

Not entirely able to get a good look at the alien anymore, he managed to catch a glimpse of her every now and again running and hiding behind the trees and there he waited, silently for the battle to end and for the Ravengers to leave before making his move to catch his prize.

 **Yondu POV**

That bloody woman! This was all her damn fault – if she hadn't had attacked their Captain, me and my men wouldn't have just had to go toe to toe with a pack of fucking lunatics! Half of my men still had erections! How can I ask my men to fight another man with an erection? That ain't fucking right! Men take no pride in that kind of fight!

I had sent up a transmission to Kraiglin asking about the state of the main ship, he had told me nothing had attacked them directly and that X'antia had made it on board like I ordered.

As my men and I flew our way back to the main ship, I looked back at the smoking brothel as we flew further and further away from the city and then the planet itself. Wiping off traces of blood from my face, I looked back at my men, who were tired by revved up from the battle none the less; half of them still a little confused about the whole thing. One minute they are balls deep in a robot – the next minute they are dodging bullets and trying to pull up their kegs. That was one sight I was happy to not have seen up close.

Pulling into the loading bay on the main ship I stormed out from my ship, making my way down to the engineering bay. I had to have this out with X'antia – I was almost ready to kill the damn woman.

"Alright girly we need to talk!" I bellowed as I pushed open the door to her workshop, half expecting her to be sat in bed asleep or fidgeting with some new toy passing the time away waiting for us to finish the damn battle.

I looked around the room, and expected some kind of reply – looking over at the drawn curtains by X'antia's bed I tried to make out if I could see or hear the young alien behind the fabric. "Don't ignore me woman! I am your Captain and you will answer me when I talk to you!" I shouted as I pulled back the curtain, expecting to see a half asleep engineer but to my surprise, the bed was made and empty.

Taking a moment to look around the room once more made my heart sink; I could feel the blood pumping around my body faster and faster as I tried to predict where my engineer had got to. Nothing in the room looked out of place, everything was tidied up as it would usually be before a mission or a docking on a planet. I started to panic slightly as I realized X'antia may not have actually got onto the ship after all. Where else would she be? Kraglin said she was on board – this is the only place she would be…

Leaving the room as I found it, I made my way back up to the control station. "Bring up the cameras over the last hour." I barked as I made my way over to the centre of the ship, after a few moments the screens around me flashed to the recordings of the last hour – all the recorded images of the rooms in the ship, all comings and goings of the crew flashed before my eyes but amidst the blur of the sped up imagery I couldn't find my yellow haired prize.

" **Kraglin, get your ass in here boy!** " I bellowed as I watched the recordings over and over, she hadn't boarded the damn ship – she hadn't even stepped into her shuttle to get her to the ship! As the lanky young man made his way over to me I could already read his expression – he knew that I knew.

"You be telling me X'antia is on board – I look at these cameras, ain't no engineer step foot back on this ship!" I growled before I whistled, shooting my arrow at the neck of the young man making him nervously shake before stumbling over his words.

"Capt'n she asked me not to tell you..." I could feel my blood boiling, he had lied to me. How many men knew, she wasn't on the ship when we took off?

"Not to tell me what!?" I barked as the arrow edged closer to the man, the end of the metal lightly piercing the stubble on the young man's skin making him whimper.

"Grabbers!" He stuttered stepping back against the metal wall behind him, wincing when the cold metal hit his skin. My arrow following him to the wall I could feel myself getting more and more anxious and uptight – I knew Grabbers all too well. I had been sold as a kid to slavery by my the bitch who birthed me and her husband – I had been on the receiving end of Grabbers and their antics – if there were Grabbers on that planet and they were near X'antia this was not going to end well and I knew it.

"S-She called up and said she had come across a group of Grabbers, Capt'n." Kraglin spoke out making me tense up, lowering my arrow from the mans neck. Taking in the information that I already knew was coming.

"She looked scared and she said they were tanked up enough to wipe a lot of the crew out. So she was gunna lead them away from the ships and then head back to us but she ain't never made it back yet." Kraglin blurted out before I let out a roar and called back my arrow, picking the young man up by the scruff of the collar and threw him across the room to the computers.

"I will deal with you later! Get me the location of them Grabbers. I want their ship on radar now!"

 **X'antia POV**

X'antia, you stupid pointy eared fool! You should have stayed on the bloody ship. Why did you have to go out and get sexual with a robot…why didn't you stay on the bloody ship?! You are now stuck in a cell, by a group of Gathers….you stupid fucking Valkurian. Why did you need to leave the ship?

Pacing back and forth in my cell was not helping me at all. I never liked to admit I was scared but these Gatherers scared me to death. Flashbacks kept sweeping into my mind as I was brought back to my childhood – the years of slavery and how the Gatherers treated me as a child. The marking on my skin, still left the scars of the trauma.

I was silently praying to myself that the Captain hadn't noticed that I was gone, but then another part of me was hoping in the back of my mind that someone will have noticed I was not there – just not the Little Terran….not the kid, it wasn't fair on him to find out. Slumping down in my cell, I had a look at the chains that were on my feet and arms keeping me attached loosely to the wall.

Crawling over to the bars of my cell, I poked my ear between the bars and tried to locate the footsteps of the Gatherers on the ship, they sounded far enough away to not notice me tinkering away at the lock around my ankles. Crawling back to the wall I began to slowly unscrew the metal bolts and needles from my locks. Laying the items out in front of me I took each piece and screwed them together into a make do screwdriver – pressing into the lock and waiting for the click I smiled as the cuff fell away onto the floor.

"Childs play." I snickered to myself as I crept over to the main lock of the cell and began to work away at the large iron lock, listening well for any footsteps that may be approaching from the distance. After a few minutes the lock broke open; I held my breath as I slowly opened the large metal door, tiptoeing out of the cell and shutting the door silently behind me.

Looking down the long dark corridor of the ship, I slowly made my way down to the end following the small flickering light down the end of the corridor. As I made my way down the corridor, I began to feel sick, I could hear the moans and screams of other captive slaves – I could only imagine they were first time slaves from their cries. Some of the captives sounded young, really young and it broke my heart.

"P-please…I don't want to go to _him_ …"

I wished I could get them out but it was going to be hard enough getting out on my own, without causing much of a fuss – a group of slaves would be way too obvious and sadly, as a slave you are alone – you learn to take care of yourself or you are in for a very rough life. That is something they will learn quicker than most.

Groaning to myself I blocked out the sounds of their screams and cries for help; hoping that the Gatherers would not think anything was out of the ordinary from their screams. As I left the containment area, I looked around at the dark damp ventilated main area of the ship – I could see the outline of shadows of the Gatherers in the cracks of the light hitting the walls. Swallowing hard I pulled off my jacket and pulled it over my hair – I knew well that Valkurian hair like mine would glow in the darkness. I never really understood why but right now I was cursing my race.

I tried to push past the rush of cold that travelled up my spine and the thudding of the blood in my ears which was mustering any sounds I thought I could make out as I snuck my way to what looked like the loading room, the room was dark and I could make out what seemed to be ships in the darkness. My plan was to hijack one of the planes and head back to the crew before the Gatherers noticed I had gone.

Pulling my jacket off of my head, I let my hair light up some of the room around me, following the musky orange glow I looked for the nearest ship I could steal, noticing the medium sized ship in the corner I rushed over to the door and took hold of the manual lever – trying to pull down the manual doors I let out a groan before I heard footsteps behind me.

"You know your hair glows in the dark girl."

 _Shit…_

Turning around gradually, I raised my hands slowly over my head hoping foolishly that the Grabbers had not noticed the shaking betrayal of my hands.

As I caught sight of one of the grabbers, the large hulking figure I ran into in the battle. Getting a better look at him now made me more nervous – he was huge, his red skin was covered in scars, the black markings covering his face and chest. Topless, he stood with an assortment of weapons around his belt – I eyed the weapons briefly, noting most of them – some of them I had built similar modules of, others had been used against me over the years – not a fond memory by any stretch.

"Come 'ere you!" I winced as I was grabbed by my hair and dragged across the room back to the door. "Let me go!" I cried as I tried to claw at the hand grasping my hair but it was no help – it only made him tighten his grip as he pulled me across the floor into the main control room. I couldn't see everything in the new room but I could hear the voices of a group of Gatherers - looking round as much as I could I noticed at least ten men of different species of Gatherer.

"This one is feisty; can we keep her?" My assailant chuckled as he threw me into the middle of the group of men – the room filled with the sound of laughter and whistles and I scurried back to my feet only to be slapped across the face and pushed back onto the floor by one of the men.

"I am a bought slave, you can't have me!" I growled as I pushed myself onto my knees again, looking around trying to figure out the best way to get out of here. I knew I could take about 4 of these men on, but there were too many for me to deal with without any of my weapons.

"Bought by whom?" One of the Grabbers snarled as he bent down and ripped off the top I was wearing to take a look at my branding on my back. Every slave had a brand from their owners, when Yondu took me on board he told me he didn't see the point in branding me as I wasn't planning on running off back to sex work. We never spoke of it again – he knew I was loyal to him and his crew, regardless of branding or not.

"Yondu Udonta – he bought me off Zoldar!" I hissed as I tried to cover my chest with my arms, blinking away any traces of the burning tears which had threatened to fill my eyes at the thought of being sold back into slavery again.

I knew it wouldn't happen…The Captain needed me – he said so himself, I was good at my job and I brought in profit. I was a Ravenger now, not a slave – I was part of the crew, the code wouldn't let me be sold on. Yondu wouldn't let me be sold on…

"You see, word is you are quite valuable – and well, we would like to see if your Captain thinks you are a worthy trade for a little something for our employer." One of the grabbers chuckled as he sat down in a chair next to me.

"The Mad Titan…he is your employer?" I gasped, I knew why the young girls were crying in their cells now – it was all far to clear, it was all happening again; it was just like it was twenty years ago.

"He will never surrender anything to you!" I knew it wouldn't happen, the Captain needed me – he said so himself, I was good at my job and I brought in profit. I was a Ravenger now, not a slave – I was part of the crew, the code wouldn't let me be sold on. Yondu wouldn't let me be sold on…

"We shall see, send out the transmission!" The Grabber barked as I grabbed to cover myself with my ripped shirt before the holo-screens around is lit up to show the inside of the Ravenger control deck.

"Yondu Udonta!"

My heart skipped for a moment when my Captain came into view, he looked pissed – really pissed; at this point I didn't know whether to feel relieved or scared. He probably blamed me for this entire mess – I couldn't fault him for that, I should have just got back on the bloody ship…

As I looked up and caught the eye of my Captain, I couldn't help but look down in shame. I had not been this vulnerable for years… _it was shameful._

 **Yondu POV**

I am going to kill them, I am going to blow them into the next galaxy and then bring them back before killing them again! They had her! They had _my_ engineer – they would not get away with her, she belonged on my ship – she belonged here with _me_ and with the crew. They had no right to take her, she was _mine_ – I bought her, they knew they couldn't sell on a claimed slave, it was against their code. No this was going to be over very quickly.

Trying to maintain my composure as much as I could in front of my men, I watched as the group of men dragged a beaten and half naked X'antia up to the screen. I could feel the blood rushing to my head as I watched my engineer get dragged up to the screen.

"I want my engineer back." I growled at the screen, a few of my men had gathered around the screens watching the scene as the main speakers sounded the whole thing across the ship.

"We thought you would – so we would like to arrange a trade-off." The grabber snarled and he stroked X'antias face, making me snarl. I could see she was scared - I had not seen the girl scared lie this in years. It was all flooding back to her, I could see it in her eyes, the tears threatening to fall down her face I could see she was trying to fight it all back.

"I don't trade." I growled, they were going to give me her – I don't trade anything for something that is already mine.

"The girl is mine, I paid for her!" I snapped – I watched as X'antia's head dropped at the comment, I had to pull rank. It was true, I had bought her and in slave terms that meant that I owned her.

"You have not marked her as yours, most slavers mark their goods. All I can see is the mark of Zoldar." One of the Grabbers grunted as they yanked X'antia forwards and pulled off the ripped shirt that was being used to cover her front. Spinning her around so that her slave scar was visible, I could hear X'antia whimper as they dug their nails into her shoulders.

 **How dare they?**

"I bought her off Zoldar! She is _**mine**_!" I bellowed at the screen making a few of my men step back – I took a moment to compose myself as I heard a few of my men whisper and mutter behind me. I looked soft, I know I did – they knew I wouldn't be in this much frustration over any of them.

"No marking means no ownership. I thought _you_ of all people would know that." The Grabber chuckled as he pulled X'antia back into his grasp, pulling her half naked body into his chest and smelling her hair making my skin crawl. I was about ready to board a ship and send an arrow right through that fuckers skull- slowly and painfully waiting for him to beg for death before slicing through what was left of his cunt head.

"You have one ship; my crew could just destroy you and take back my engineer." I snapped, pulling back composure – I knew my crew were touchy about my favouring X'antia, I had denied it and now was one instance where I couldn't deny it and my being soft was proving it.

"She would be dead before any of you set foot on the ship. Is that really worth the risk at all?"

I could hear the mutters behind me, some out of concern for their friend and others I could almost feel wishing for the pin to drop so they could call me on being a soft captain. That was not happening – it couldn't. I would get X'antia back but I weren't ready to let my men think me anything close to soft.

"You're bluffing." I said coldly without blinking an eyelid. I chewed on the inside of my lip until I could feel the metallic blood running between my teeth.

"Will you take that chance Ravenger?" The voice chuckled as he pulled X'antia closer to him, running one of his blades over her lilac skin on her chest, cutting her slowly but my engineer didn't react. She didn't even blink – she had gone too quiet. I think she was in shock – I watched as the metallic gold blood slowly slid down her skin onto the arm of the Grabber who had her pulled into him with a devilish smile.

"What are ya after?" I growled. I was not a man to make a trade – I was not that weak but I was also not the kind of Captain to abandon his crew. I was in a no win situation here, my men would hate me either way.

"There is something your crew picked up on their latest little trip, big golden glove of sorts." The Grabber began, my mind cast back a few months to a expedition on a near abandoned planet – a team had come across a pretty golden trinket. A large, golden glove of sorts – it took me a few weeks to figure out what it was. I had X'antia take a look at it and she said she had some idea from legend about what it was – however she and I both agreed on the fact it was worth a great deal of money and could be extremely dangerous. We didn't discuss it further and it has been locked away under tight security ever since.

"So, do you accept the trade? A simple glove is all I ask in return of your pretty engineer?" I swallowed hard. I was not a man of ethics, I had near to none to speak of – however, I did follow my gut more than I would be expected to, and my gut was telling me this was not a good idea.

Turning around for a moment, I crossed my arms over my chest and let out a grunt as I thought of my options. They had me in a corner; they fucking had me in a corner. I was going to fucking kill them!

"Do not trade that fucking gauntlet! They plan to give it to Thanos!"

"Shut up bitch!" I heard X'antia yelp making me turn around to the screens to catch three of the Grabbers kicking my engineer to pieces on the floor. I blinked a few times, pushing the cries from my head as I thought over my options…

"Well Ravenger, what is your answer?"

There was only one choice that I could make and I hated myself for it…and I hated _her_ for making me choose it.

" **Keep the girl."**

 **X'antia POV**

"You 'eard me. Keep the girl you ain't getting that glove from me." I let out a muffled sob, I couldn't tell if I was relieved or devastated by my Captain's choice. I had told him not to make the trade, we had discussed the dangers of giving the Gauntlet to the wrong person and these men were by far one of the worst people.

"Here that girly? Your Captain didn't value you enough for the trade." One of the Grabbers chuckled as they dragged me off of the floor by my hair making me cough and splutter blood down myself. My body ached from the kicking, I knew something was broken or bruised – my side was on fire I could feel the bruises already forming.

"I guess you are ours now." Another Grabber licked his lips, making me gag a little – I tried not to look at the screens I couldn't bring myself to look at Yondu…he did the best thing the Captain could do but nonetheless, my heart was broken.

"Don't worry pretty thing – we like to make sure to put our mark on our toys."

I looked over when I could smell the familiar scent of smoke and as the hiss of the metal pierced my ears I could tell what was about to happen and I couldn't control myself anymore.

"Get away from me!" I screamed as I tried to claw myself away from the stronghold of the largest Grabber. The other approached me with a long pole, the end red and glowing – I knew what was going to happen and I could feel myself lose control of my body as I slumped down the body of the Grabber with a wail.

"Captain – do you want us to attack?" I heard a familiar voice over the screens and I whimpered as I realized that they could still see us.

This was worse than anything I could imagine, being branded was horrible, it was worse than horrible but being in this state – stripped, crying, bleeding in front of those who were once my crew was too much for me. I couldn't bring myself to look at the screens, I could see the faint outline of blue – I knew that was my Captain. He hadn't turned the transmission off yet, he had to watch this hell.

"Oh come now girl, you've been through this all before you know how this works." The larger man chuckled as he bent down next to be holding my shoulders in place so I couldn't move. They were going to brand my face, I knew it – I could see the rod coming towards me – the triple helix shape alight at the end of the rod. I could smell the burning metal as it approached my face. Crying out now, I tried to claw away, I tried to push – I tried anything to get away from the

"Please, don't do it. Please!" I cried and I begged trying to claw away, I tried to push – I tried anything to get away from the men but it was no good…It was too late.

"Hold 'er face."

 **Yondu POV**

I couldn't watch yet I found myself unable to look away, as those monsters held my X'antia down and burned their symbol into the side of her face. I closed my eyes for a moment, as her screams and wails rang through the ship, echoing against the metal walls of the ship.

"Aww now don't you look pretty."

I had dug my nails into my palms so hard that I was drawing blood; I could feel myself losing it. How could she have just let me leave her!?

"Lock her up."

I was a coward, a useless fucking cowardly piece of shit. I left the only woman who looked at me as anything but a useless bandit, to be tortured and never mind what else at the hands of those fuckers. No glove was worth that much…it couldn't be. Out of all the treasures I had found on all my trips. _She_ was the most precious of them all…and I just let them take her…for a glove.

"Did the Captain just..."

"I think he did." The muffled whispers of the crew broke the silence that had fallen over the crew. No one could find the right words – there were no right words for what had just happened – we were hardened to the realities of our way of life and the darkness of the world…but to sit and watch that happen to one of our own…that was too much.

"GET OUT!" I roared as I lost it finally, swiping off the contents of my control console onto the floor – hearing the goods smash as they hit the floor. I closed my eyes and tried to calm myself – I was not an emotional man, I couldn't be in this line of work but this was testing even the likes of a heartless fiend like me.

"You are a monster!" A young voice broke my thoughts, as I turned around to see the Peter Quill, stood behind me. His eyes red and flushed from crying, he had heard it all I assumed, I let out a groan and turned away from him. "Get out of here kid!"

"You let them take her for the sake of one glove? She is a Ravenger! What about the code!?" Quill screamed at me, throwing objects from all around the room, anything he could get his hands on he tossed to me. I didn't even bother to dodge his attack at this point – I needed something to smack me into reality again as I felt like this was all a horrid nightmare.

"I thought you cared about her!" He bellowed. I regained composure quicker than I thought I ever could. There was a line, and he crossed it – he knew better than to insinuate any feelings between me and X'antia where the rest of the crew could hear.

"Don't be sentimental!" I barked, slapping him across the face making him whimper as he ran out of the room leaving me more alone than I had ever felt in my life.

 **3POV**

Yondu sat in his chair in his station for hours – no one dare disturb him for anything. The whole crew were gossiping about the goings on that they had heard over the speakers. Some of the men were smug that the engineer had finally got what she deserved. Others were less than pleased by their comments and stood up to defend their friend in her absence.

Between the chaos no one noticed the lanky Terran pass everyone as he slid his way into the secure holding station, collecting the Gauntlet and making his way over to his own small ship before leaving the main ship in search of his friend. It wasn't until the security checked over the vault that they realized the kid had gone at all.

The Grabbers were quite pleased with themselves, eating their dinner around their office table – X'antia had been collared and stripped locked away in a small cage next to the table. She lay curled in the foetal position, shaking and crying quietly as she tried to push through the pain that was radiating across every inch of her body.

The young alien, would never speak of the atrocities that one group of men could manage to inflict within the space of a few hours. It was worse, than she ever remembered as a child – it was a hundred times worse now. As the young woman lay sobbing quietly, none of the Grabbers thought to pay the slightest bit of attention to the monitors or their CCTV – they had done, they would have not found themselves alone on their large ship.

Peter Quill had armed himself with one of X'antia's big guns and had pulled into the docking station of the Grabbers ship. The Grabbers thought they had moved far enough away from the Ravenger ship to be tracked but they were wrong.

Quill made his way down the corridor with purpose as he searched for his fallen friend, struggling under the sheer weight of the gauntlet itself, he dragged it along the floor in one of his pillowcases. As he caught site of his friend in a cage, he found himself wanting to cry – he was pissed and for the first time in his life, he would have happily placed a shot between each of the men's eyes.

"Hey you! Elephant man!" Quill exclaimed as he pushed the main door open, pointing the gun at the largest Grabber. Who didn't move a muscle – the Grabbers simply looked to one another with a smirk and a chuckle.

"Elephant man? What is an elephant man?" The largest man asked his comrade. "Fucked if I know…" another replied as he ignored the young boy in the doorway.

"I have come to trade. I want X'antia back!" Quill barked, trying to look dangerous and failing ever so terribly at his attempt. "You wanted this glove thing right?" Quill snapped as he opened the bag to reveal the golden glove making the men all stand up in shock, as if all their holidays had come at once.

"How did you get hold of that?" The larger man gasped as he pushed his colleagues out of his way to step forward and pick up the bag with the gauntlet in it.

"I fit into small spaces." Quill replied coldly, his eyes casting over the fallen form of his friend. She was mumbling something to him – her face to broken and beaten for the young Terran to make out any words.

"Thanos will be very pleased indeed." The largest man chuckled as he motioned for the other men to surround the boy.

"I want X'antia back! You promised you would hand her over!" Quill shouted as he was dragged from the room. "Promises are made to be broken boy, surely working with the Ravengers would have you knowin' that by now?"

"Tell me, I don't know a lot about Terrans...can you creatures breath is deep space?" One of the men chuckled as they pushed the teenager into the airlock and with a cackle pressed the release button sending the young boy into the airless abyss of Deep Space.

 **Yondu POV**

I refuse; I refuse to pick up any more fucking Terrans or Valkurians. I can't keep on this way with their shit! Rushing down into the loading bay I watched as a few of my men stuck Quill into the oxygen booth – the young boy was pale and cold. His breathing had returned slowly over a few minutes but it was too close for my liking. After a few moments the teenager stepped out of the machine coughing and spluttering. _Fucking kids!_

"Everybody out now!" I ordered coldly, I needed to speak to the kid on my damn own. He had crossed a line and he was gunna pay for it.

Grabbing hold of the teenagers collar I pinned him to the glass incubator he had only just left. I couldn't control myself, this was all too much – I lost X'antia today and I weren't planning on losing the kid to the same people.

" **You just lost me the most important thing in the Galaxy**!" I roared as Quill whimpered for a moment, tears in his eyes threatened to fall before he snapped back at me.

"You value a stupid glove over your own crew!" he screamed back at me, making me freeze for a moment before punching the teenager in the gut, watching as he fell to the floor in a heap.

"You don't know a thing! You're just a kid!" I growled as the teenager pushed himself up from the floor and stood toe to toe with me.

"I know that X'antia is a mess on that ship, they have branded her face – she was all chained up in a cage like a dog because _you_ wouldn't trade that stupid glove!" Quill screamed at me, trying to land a punch before I kicked him in the stomach and pinned him to the wall so he couldn't move. He couldn't hold back the tears anymore and they began to fall down his face.

"I had a plan!" I said as I let the kid go, dropping him to the floor I turned on my heel and began to pace the room for a moment.

"She trusted you! She cared about you and you betrayed her!" Quill screamed at me again, trying to run at me for an attack that was easily dodged. He was speaking nothing but the truth but he couldn't know that I agreed with him. I was his Captain – I needed to keep all the respect I could after this was over.

"Get outta here boy!" I barked as I turned away from the kid and looked out into the deep space and to where the ship that held my engineer had disappeared from.

"I will never forgive you for this Yondu and neither will she!" Quills voice echoed down the corridor as he ran out of the room and slammed the door behind him. I guess it was good that the boy was getting it all out now…

As I looked out into the vast expansion of space, I could feel something strange hitting my hand, something hot and wet dripping onto my hands; looking up as if to check the rafters for a leak. I realized the wet drips were coming from my eyes – I hadn't cried in years and I wasn't about to let anyone see it now. Rubbing my eyes quickly I straightened up taking one last look into the stars before I turned and making my way back to my control room, the cries of my X'antia still echoing in my mind.

"I'm so sorry girly…"

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 **I am trying to keep Yondu as in character as I can but he is so complex it is challenging for sure!**

 **If you liked this chapter and if it made you feel all the feelings like it made me feel…please leave a review down belooooooow :D They make my day and it only takes a few moments.**

 **:P**


	5. Chapter 5

Hi everyone!

 **I am so so SO sorry that this chapter took so long.** I have not been very well, I have been in hospital and had surgery and I have been recovering slowly. I am sorry that I have not been able to upload as my mind has been all over the shop.

But I am back now and hopefully going to get cracking with these chapters!

I am sorry that this is such a short chapter but I wanted you to have at least a little bit to read.

If you like this chapter please let me know! Your reviews are the only thing that keeps my troubled mind focused on these stories! XD

* * *

 **3POV**

It had been a couple of months since X'antia had left the crew, the general consensus amongst the crew was that their captain had acted harshly but soundly. The glove was worth way more than some fire mouth engineer. Quill was kept in the ships cells for a week to calm himself down, Yondu couldn't be seen to be acting soft towards the kid.

Quill had let the most important thing in the galaxy get away with little to no chance of ever finding it again. The fact that the gauntlet was lost to them was an added issue - but that was out of their hands now.

As Yondu sat at his control station he looked over his small trinkets which he had lined up on his control station; the new addition to the collection was the small metal figurine that X'antia used to keep on her desk. The little metal animal was placed at the end of the line of small figurines – the captain had made an effort to keep a hold of that small trinket – he was not a sentimental man by any stretch but looking at the figure every now and again would ease his guilt.

He didn't want to think about the fate of his engineer – he knew all too well the way Grabbers teated their captive, he remembered too well the torture that he himself had endured as a child. Yondu never forgave his family for selling him into slavery, he often wondered as a child if it was something he had done – was he not a good enough kid that his family couldn't love him enough to keep him?

The guilt and self-hatred did more to the mercenary captain than any physical torture could have ever done. Yondu knew deep down that he was a mess, he was a bad man and he did bad things to other bad people. He knew that it would be impossible to get anything remotely close to real affection from another person, that's why he paid for the luxury of hookers and whores when he got the chance.

He knew that he was aging, that his scar covered body was less than attractive to the females, the only female he ever had any affection for he had sold onto grabbers and he could never really forgive himself for that amount of betrayal.

As the captain looked out in front of him into the vast emptiness of space he couldn't help but feel the numbness creeping into his mind. He didn't have very much more to lose, he was dishonoured by his people – the Ravengers had exiled him and his crew following the collection of Peter Quill and the only woman he ever felt could feel anything for him was now chained up in some Grabbers cell.

He was a fuck up. A failure and an embarrassment of the highest grade but God help anyone who fucking said that to his face.

He past months could only have been described as hellish for the Valkurian, X'antia had settled into her role as slave on the Grabber's ship. They had dropped off the cargo to Thanos and were paid handsomely for their work. X'antia however was not turned over with the other woman and children – she had been kept with the crew. They enjoyed her too much to sell her on – she was their new pet.

X'antia knelt down next to the main kitchen table as the crew ate their meals – laughing and joking with each other about their most recent kills and cargo. The yellow haired alien crouched down in silence, listening intently to the conversation; she was tired of her new life. She had been freed from slavery and she had made something of herself and with each passing month the Valkurian felt a little bit more of her soul slip away. She knew she had to get out – she had planned her escape, she had planned her route out all she needed now was time and a very special tool.

Without warning X'anita was hoisted up from the floor by her hair and dragged down the corridor by one of the large hulking men. Crying out in pain as her yellow locks wrapped around the man's fist, she braced herself for some kind of impact as her body was dragged across the hard cold floor.

"Get in." The grabber snapped as he pulled open the lock on the metal bars and threw the Valkurian into the cell, landing with a loud thud he engineer let out a hiss and a groan as she pushed herself from the floor and dusted herself off before looking around at the large cell she had become far to familiar with. The cell was big but nowhere near big enough to harbour as many women and children as it had currently been packed with.

Looking for a relatively free spot, the yellow haired alien settled down on the floor and looked around the cell noticing that there had been an influx of new women and children spread out across the cell, some crying, some shouting but above all the worst thing was the smell of stale piss and shit that filled the air. It was to be expected, they were scared out of their minds, they had just been taken from their homes and probably beaten into submission – of course they would wet themselves or worse.

As the evening went on the new guests calmed themselves down or fell asleep from exhaustion. The older more settled slaves offering them as much advice and help as they could, slaves may have been worth little to nothing for their weight but they were above all else loyal to each other. That was the one rule.

The cell fell silent as footsteps echoed over the metal flooring reverberating on the walls of the cell – mothers hugged their children close as the cage door opened to reveal one of the Grabbers holding a large cauldron of brown mush.

"Your dinner is served ladies." The pungent alien chuckled as he wiped his nose on his sleeve before tossing a dozen metal trays into the cell and dropping the cauldron by the door.

"We have the best chef in the quadrant, you should be thankful for such a meal." The alien laughed as he noticed some of the grimacing faces from the women as they looked at the concoction which was offered to them. Laughing loudly the alien slammed the door shut and left the cell.

X'antia pulled her legs into her pre-emptively knowing what was coming, like clockwork as the main door lock sounded women of the cell made a quick rush to the pot of grool, scooping some into their hands and eating it like animals. The mother handed the concoction to their children who began to cry as they tasted the horrid mixture.

Picking up a metal tray, X'antia shielded herself from the projected vomit which was now heading in most directions.

"Hold your nose when you take a bite. It kills the taste." X'antia called out from behind her tray, the other more seasoned slaves nodded in agreement they had been in there position before and they knew exactly how not to go about eating their dinner…don't make the mistake of thinking you can make yourself enjoy the food. It just will not happen.

"You don't hold your nose." One of the women snapped back as she gagged and swallowed as much of the mixture as she could manage. "I'm used to that shit." X'antia snapped back as she watched the new slaves wretch and gag.

"You little brat, I said move!"

X'antia looked over from the gagging women to the other side of the cell, a young blue skinned child was pinned against the cage wall by Martha – one of the larger more intimidating women in the cell.

"I was here first!" The young alien snapped back, she was courageous for a child, she coudn't have been older than seven at the most, she had blue and teal skin – A luphomoid.

"I don't give a fuck – my space stinks of shit. So you move your little blue bald ass and sit over there!" The large hulking woman growled as she lifted her hand up ready to slap the child across the cell.

"Martha!" X'antia yelled from her space on the floor making the large woman stop and turn around.

"What the fuck do you want whore?" She hissed back as she turned around and walked over to the yellow haired alien who remained cross legged on the floor.

"Why are you picking on a child? I know you are not the most 'maternal' of women – if you are female at all…" X'antia began, earning a few snickers from the other women who looked on intently.

"Do you wanna go girl?" Martha bellowed as she dragged X'antia up from the floor by her collar and pinning her against the metal wall behind her. "I am in charge around here – you here, we may be slaves but I am in charge of us whilst we are in here!" Martha hissed as she punched X'antia in the face.

"Oh, that was not nice." X'antia growled as the wiped the blood from her face. In one swift movement X'antia pulled up her arms and dug her thumbs into the eye sockets of the larger woman – earning a screech of pain as Martha let go of X'antia who had wrapped her legs around her waist and continued to push her thumbs into the sockets of her eyes – using her weight against her, the yellow haired alien pushed Martha to the floor and slammed her skull against the metal floor over and over and over until the screaming came to an end.

The room was silent as X'antia removed her thumbs from the skull of the now dead bully before wiping the blood off on Martha's top and standing up again and stretching.

"Hello everyone. My name is X'antia – I would like to welcome you to the life of a slave, you have been taken from your loved ones and been taken into slavery; this is your life now." X'antia spoke out, addressing the entire room of women and children who had stopped eating and crying.

"Now, you are slaves and I would advise you to do exactly what your Masters tell you to do. Don't play the hero and don't try and be smart – you will lose a hand for that if you are lucky." X'antia continued making the new women slightly uneasy.

"These men are monsters; they will do anything to you. They will beat you, they will rape you, they will beat and rape your child – that is life unfortunately and that is how it is you used to be a person, now you are nothing- you are less than nothing and you need to get on board with that if you want to survive. Out there – we are slaves but in here when we are all together we are a family."

"A family helps one another; we look out for each other and we stick together and anyone who doesn't want to be part of the family – ends up like Martha here. Do we all understand that?" X'antia snapped as she kicked the corpse of the woman sprawled out in front of her.

"Carry on." X'antia chuckled as she walked over to the young blue girl who was standing in silence looking at the dead woman in the middle of the room.

"What's your name?"

The young alien was too shaken up to reply, she just stood in silence staring at the corpse. X'antia sighed and gently helped her sit down in a dry spot behind her. Sitting down next to the child X'antia rummaged around in her dressings before pulling out a small amount of bread.

"Here, it's a little warm but its so much better than that rubbish." X'antia said softly as she handed the child the piece of bread, which the young child snatched from her hands and began eating.

"N-Nebula. My name is Nebula."


End file.
